Al-Ahram Weekly | Sports | Everybody was kung fu fighting

		18 - 24 July 2002 Issue No. 595 Sports	Current issue Previous issue Site map
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875		Recommend this page

Everybody was kung fu fighting
Bruce Lee would have been proud of Egypt at an Afro-Asian championship

Click to view caption
Fast as lightning were these masked men of kung fu
Egypt bagged first and second place in the two disciplines of the Chinese martial art of kung fu in the just concluded first Afro-Asian Wushu Kung Fu Championship held in Cairo, writes Inas Mazhar
In sanshu, where the only weapons used are the hands and feet, the national team collected 28 points to take first place with four gold medals. Tunisia finished second with 24 points, winning two gold medals and two silver. Indonesia was third with 18 points and two gold medals. Libya, Palestine, Ethiopia, Yemen and Morocco ended up from fourth to seventh.
Altogether, 48 players competed in 11 sanshu weight categories. Each nation entered five players in five weight categories of its choice.
The Egyptian gold medals came via Rabei Gamil in the 52 kilogramme weight category, Mohamed El-Sayed in the 60kg, Gamal Ghanem in the 80 kg and Khaled Assem in the over 90 kg.
In taolou, the other discipline in which combat has accessories, including swords, Indonesia came out on top, garnering 118 points. Egypt was runner-up with 89 points while world champion China dropped to third place with 39 points. Yemen, Palestine, Ethiopia, Morocco and Libya took from fourth to eighth respectively.
The taolou event, consisting of 73 males and females, included 10 disciplines for men and women: chanquan, nanquan, taijiquan, gunshu, daoshu, jianshu, taijijian, nandao, nangun and qiangshu. Indonesia dominated the mat, claiming 11 gold medals, five silver and two bronze. Egypt took five gold medals, 10 silver and three bronze medals. China placed third with four gold medals, two silver and two bronze.
Osman El-Abassi, president of the African and Egyptian kung fu federations, said the results were very satisfactory considering that Egypt was currently preparing for the sanshu World Cup, to be held in China from 25 to 28 July. Egypt will be represented by four players. According to the rules, the top four players in each weight category in the last world championship in Armenia qualifies for the World Cup.
El-Abassi, who was elected president of the Arab Wushu Kung Fu Federation, added that the team will start training next week.
Secretary-General of the African Wushu Federation Bahaa Helmi said the championship was a real success for the sport in Egypt. "It was the first official international championship to be organised and hosted here. It witnessed a high spectator turn-out which will undoubtedly attract a lot of newcomers to the game," Helmi said.
He added that Secretary-General of the International Federation Jan Chang had praised the organisation and the technical level of the participating teams as well as the work of the African Federation.
Helmi listed the achievements made in recent months in the sport: the number of members in the federation jumped from six to 11 nations in only six months, a training clinic for refereeing was held in Cairo and a Chinese expert was hired by the Egyptian federation to lecture trainers.
The success of the championship, Helmi said, had helped in gaining the approval of the international federation to hold the first African Clubs Championship next year. "We haven't set a date yet but Zohour club says it is ready to play host," Helmi added.

Send a letter to the Editor Recommend this page

ARCHIVES
Letter from the Editor
Editorial Board
Subscription
Advertise!

WEEKLY ONLINE: www.ahram.org.eg/weekly
Updated every Saturday at 11.00 GMT, 2pm local time
weeklyweb@ahram.org.eg

Al-Ahram Organisation