Jia Rui, Macau’s best athlete in the different areas of the martial art wushu, again shone at the East Asian Games in Tianjing, winning gold medals in changquan (long fist-fighting), and in the joint category of Daoshu (sword play) and gunshu (rod manoeuvring).
Jia Rui repeated his gold-medal victory of four years ago in Hong Kong, during the previous edition of the East Asia Games. Born in Henan Province in 1987, the athlete has been living in Macau for many years and holds the prestigious title of 2010 World Champion in Daoshu.
In Tianjin, 27 medals – three gold, five silver and 19 bronze – were won by Macau’s athletes. Kin Hang Kuok won the other gold medal in karate.
Paula Carion is one of the strongest women competitors in local karate. Experienced in international competitions, she won a bronze medal in Tianjian. This is not the first time Carion has brought medals back to Macau. At the 2005 East Asian Games, held in Macau, she won a gold medal, in 2006 and 2010 she won bronze medals at the Asian Games, and in 2009 she won a silver medal at the Asian Martial Arts Games.
CLOSER spoke to both athletes about the tournament in Tianjing, and the conditions offered to local athletes here in Macau.
Jia Rui
Macau CLOSER: You must have been very pleased with your performance in the Games. What was the most challenging aspect this time?
Jia Rui: I was quite satisfied with my performance, and I learnt a lot from my rivals as well. They are all experienced and internationally top-ranked. To me, the most challenging part was competing with the Chinese athletes, simply because they are so outstanding. Controlling your emotions is the key to stabilising your performance though. As an experienced athlete, I know how to manage my ups and downs so that they won’t affect me.
How did you find the Games overall?
It was a very-large scale international event, so the live atmosphere played a big role. When you see lots of supporters in the venue to cheer for you, it definitely helps keep your spirits high. Everyone in the team took it seriously as we really value the Games and consider it as an important opportunity. For Macau, we sent our top athletes.
And how do you evaluate the overall performance of your team?
I think they all performed well. Each of us tried our best and gained experience not only in terms of skills, but also in personal growth as well. When I look at their efforts and the time they have committed, I really admire their endeavour to transcend themselves. For me, how many medals an athlete wins should never be the only criterion. In the end, each contest can only have one champion.
As one of the more experienced athletes on the team, there must be more pressure and responsibility for you.
Our daily training programme is rigorous and all the athletes spare no effort in doing their part. As one of the senior team members, I’m responsible for leading the younger members and helping them to master their wushu skills and generally fit in with the team. What I value the most is a strong team spirit and I believe we have this. Also it’s very important to offer more opportunities to the young members, because they need to grow up and be prepared to take up our roles in the future.
What is it like being an athlete in Macau?
Most of us are part-time or amateur athletes, and we are occupied with other pursuits too. It’s never easy to nurture a successful athlete. We’ve been training since we were children, and it takes years of determination and diligence. In Macau, we all are highly encouraged to become all-round athletes. In order to fully explore and develop our own selves, we are required to learn to appreciate arts and culture, exploring our potential and strengths in different fields. But being a successful athlete also depends on the government policies toward sport and how supportive the community is in general. Our society has to think more about this if we want to have more medals in the future.
Any plans for your future? What’s next?
So far it’s still up in the air. I can’t say it for sure. I need to seek advice from our wushu association and my coach. There are more international competitions, and I’d like to start my postgraduate studies in physical education. I know that I won’t be an athlete my entire life, so that’s why I want to learn more, to diversify my skills, and to see more of the world.
Paula Carion
How do you view Macau’s participation in these East Asian Games?
Paula Carion – In relation to the karate team, these games were important for us. At the East Asian Games held in Macau eight years ago we achieved very good results. We won two gold, three silver and three bronze medals. In 2009, the games didn’t include karate, so we didn’t go. It’s very important for us, because in terms of sport in Macau, after wushu, karate is one of the city’s biggest hopes. We always win medals. Before going to the games I felt a lot of pressure, because I didn’t want to return empty-handed. As we are one of the city’s hopes, I didn’t only want to win a medal, but I also wanted all my teammates to do so too. This time we took 10 athletes and we won a gold, a silver and five bronze medals. I think it’s a very good result.
How were your fights?
In the first round I fought against an athlete from Taipei and won 3-1; in the second round, which was the semi-finals, I competed against a Japanese athlete and lost. She went on to win the gold medal, with China winning silver and Macau and South Korea winning bronze.
Do you think that Macau’s team was on the same level as the other delegations? Were you well prepared?
We were well prepared but I don’t ever think it is enough. We can work harder to achieve better results. Many of my teammates are very young. Some of them have only been in international tournaments once or twice. Some of them need to gain more experience and see how things are abroad before they are prepared for winning medals.
After all the medals you have won, what are your future goals?
My next targets are the Asian Championships in Dubai in December, and the biggest of them all, the Asian Games next year in South Korea. They are competitive events. In the Asian Championships there are 14 countries [and regions] in competition, while in the East Asian Games there are only seven.
Being a seasoned athlete, do you see potential for karate among the young athletes in Macau?
No doubt, but I think we can still give them better conditions. We have good infrastructure, good hardware, and the training sites are good. What is missing is another type of support, more in terms of coordination, the software.
Looking at Macau’s overall results in these East Asian Games, how do you see the development of local sports?
We have a few sports that are typically strong, and the ongoing support we receive is very good. In relation to karate, at least once a year we leave Macau just to train. This year we went to Iran. I was there for two weeks and some colleagues spent two months there. I think it’s very important for us to fight against different people. In Macau there are not a lot of people participating in these sports, especially at a high-level, and you have to train against the top fighters.
But I think the Government should also give more support to sports that do not always achieve great results or win medals, perhaps football and ice hockey. Hockey is a traditional sport in Macau. It is not just a case of trying to help them get medals, but also to do something that can keep the forces we have intact.
