Over 500 athletes and sports officials from 25 countries and regions attended the opening ceremony of the 6th Asian Wushu Championships.

The opening ceremony of the four-day championships, the first and largest ever of its kind hosted by Myanmar, was attended by Lieutenant-General Thein Sein, First Secretary of the State Peace and Development Council and Chairman of Myanmar Olympic Council.

Myanmar Sports Minister and Chairman of Myanmar Olympic Committee Brigadier-General Thura Aye Myint and Chinese Sports Minister and Chairman of Asia Wushu Federation Li Zhijian delivered their speeches, speaking highly of the sport' development in the continent.

At the ceremony, athletes from the Myanmar Wushu Federation and from China staged wushu demonstration winning a huge wave of applause by the audiences.

Out of 29 members of Wushu Federation of Asia (WFA), 25 countries and regions -- Bangladesh, Brunei, China, China's Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, South Korea, China's Macau, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen and host Myanmar -- participated in the championships.

The championships also attract special guests from International Wushu Federation (IWUF) including Britain, United States, Belgium, Italy, Canada and Portugal as well as Qatar, which will host the 15th Asian Games in 2006.

The taolu event will fall into 12 categories and the sanshou event into 16 categories and altogether 154 medals -- 46 golds, 46 silvers and 62 bronzes -- will be awarded to winners in the championships.

Source: Xinhua