China was defeated at the fifth Open Mahjong Competition held in Strasbourg, France. China’s national team, "State Flower," finished 37th place out of 51 teams. Yan Wenying claimed the highest-ranking position for the Chinese, a mortifying 30th place.
To make matters worse, a Japanese competitor won the individual title, followed by a player from Germany. The New Beijing Daily went so far as to even analyze why the Chinese team lost at the competition. Here are some of their theories:
Reason 1: The players are not chosen from the right talent pool. Weibo user 马乾恒 expressed that the competitors don’t represent the true extent of the common Chinese man's Mahjong skills.
Ask the winner of the Mahjong tournament to compete with several aunties from some random farmers' markets. You shall see those laowai will even lose their passports in the end.
Reason 2: No prize money means no motivation to win. Weibo user 作家崔成浩 commented:
The reason for the loss is there was no financial incentive. As a result, the Chinese players were not even interested. If you don’t believe me, organize a competition with large amounts of financial incentives, you will see who will win the game.
Reason 3: Mahjong is not tested in the Gaokao examination.
CCTV sports commentator Huang Jianxiang wrote on Weibo:
Given the fact so many students can memorize the date of birth of ancient historical figures, playing Mahjong should not be a problem at all.
The topic has exploded on Chinese social networks. Some netizens have compared this dvasting loss to Brazil’s 7:1 thrashing at the hands of Germany during the World Cup. Another suggested that the winners play against Chinese grannies, who used to be devout Mahjong players before square dancing became all the rage.
Yao Xiaolei, assistant secretary-general of the World Mahjong Organization, optimistically told reporters that despite the poor results of the country's competitors, the competition shows that this very Chinese game is quickly gaining popularity in Europe and all around the world.
To add further insult to injury, it also turns out Jewish American ladies started playing mahjong in swimming pools way before it caught on over here:
0 User Comments