中國獲得世界麻將大賽雙料冠軍

After a battle of 8 rounds, the 4th tournament of World Series of Mahjong concluded in Jeju, Korea on Nov. 14. Chinese players won the team title and Zhou Yong from east China's Yangzhou city won the individual title. Jiao Linghua, a female player from China's Shanxi province won the runner-up and the third place was taken by a French player.

在8輪激戰後，第四屆世界麻將大賽於11月14日在韓國濟州島落下帷幕。中國選手贏得了團體冠軍，來自華東地區揚州的周勇贏得了單人冠軍。山西女選手焦靈花獲得亞軍，季軍被一名法國選手摘得。

Zhou Yong, 39, boss of private computer company in Yangzhou, east China's Jiangsu province, feels very excited to win the game, "Foreign players are slightly better in psychological quality, but not as good when it comes to control of detail. After all, we practice frequently and are a little more experienced," said Zhou.

周勇今年39歲，是江蘇省揚州市一家電腦公司的老闆，贏得比賽讓他十分激動。“外國選手心理素質更好一點，但是在對細節的控制上就沒那麼厲害了。畢竟，我們經常都練着，更有經驗。”周勇說。

The ancient game, thought to date to about 500BC, involves 144 tiles showing Chinese characters. It is massively popular in Hong Kong and the mainland. Different rules are used around the world, but organizer of World Mahjong Limited operates a standardized set of rules in international contests.

麻將這項古老的比賽項目可以追溯到公元前500年，一共有144張帶中國字的牌。麻將在香港和大陸都非常風靡。世界各地的麻將規則各有不同，但是麻將世界大賽的組織者將比賽使用的規則限制爲一套標準化的國際比賽規則。

According to Zhou, the Chinese and Japanese were the only noteworthy teams before, as Mahjong originated in China and Japan also has a professional league playing at a very high level. However the European level has developed rapidly in recent years. The French, Danish and Russian players are strong opponents. Yong said that the European Mahjong players are generally senior intellectuals such as engineers or scientists.

根據周勇所說，以前中國隊和日本隊是唯一值得關注的隊，因爲麻將起源於中國，日本也有高水平的職業聯賽。然而歐洲的水平近幾年長進迅速。法國，丹麥和俄羅斯的選手都是強勁的對手。周勇說歐洲麻將選手普遍是高智商人羣，例如工程師或者科學家。

At last year's 5th Open European Mahjong Championship in Strasbourg, France, among the 51 teams, China finished an embarrassing 37th while the top Chinese player, Yan Wenying, was ranked 30th. A Japanese player won the individual competition with a German player coming second. The result sparked somewhat of a fury among many Chinese, who wondered how foreigners could beat them at their national pastime — a game often synonymous with gambling in the modern age.

在去年的在法國斯特拉斯堡舉行的第五屆歐洲麻將錦標賽公開賽上，共有51支隊伍參賽，而中國隊最終以第37名尷尬收場，中國隊個人最好成績閆文英排30。一個日本選手獲得了個人冠軍，另一德國選手獲得亞軍。這樣的結果在許多中國人中引起不滿，大家都不明白外國人是怎麼在這項幾乎是現代的賭博同義詞的全民性娛樂活動上打敗中國人的。