BIZMETROPOLITAN
B8 Wednesday August 7, 2019
Above: Chinese soldiers in
the “Gunsmith Master”
competition.
Long-range rockets are fired
at the IAG 2019 opening
ceremony on Saturday in
Korla, Xinjiang.A crew of the Chinese team passes the
water zone, leading the “Suvorov Attack”
race on the first-day of the IAG competition
on Sunday in Korla, Xinjiang.Chinese soldiers take a
photo with their national
flag after leading in the
“Suvorov Attack” on Sunday
in Korla, Xinjiang.By Qu Qiuyan in Korla and
Liu Xuanzun in Beijing
C
hina has led in
two competi-
tions in the
International
Army Games
(IAG) 2019 up
until Monday.
The opening ceremony of
the competitions hosted by
China as part of the IAG 2019
was held on Saturday in Korla,
Northwest China’s Xinjiang
Uyghur Autonomous Region,
with a total of 24 teams from
12 countries competing in four
races including the “Suvorov
Attack,” “Clear Sky,” “Safe
Environment” and “Gunsmith
Master.”
China topped the first-day
rankings of the “Suvorov
Attack” single-vehicle race.
China, Iran and Zimbabwe
participated in the first day of
racing, with Iran ranking sec-
ond and Zimbabwe following
in third.
Sunday’s “Suvorov At-
tack” is a contest where each
country fields three crews
driving one infantry fighting
vehicle. By drawing lots, the
teams of Belarus, Russia and
Venezuela will join the second
group match on August 10.
The first four national teams
competing in the single-vehicle
race qualify for the relay race
scheduled on August 15.
China’s second crew fin-
ished a series of missions in
16 minutes and 12.95 seconds,
including quick shot and
obstacle crossing, outpacing
eight other crews from China,
Iran and Zimbabwe in the first
group match and meanwhilebreaking last year’s records of
16 minutes and 54 seconds.
Other competing countries
all took more than 20 minutes
to finish the race.
“To guarantee the fair-
ness and justice of the races,
sideline judges are set at all
obstacles. The whole com-
peting process is recorded
and results of the shooting
targets are double-checked by
human[s] and automatically,”
said Su Rong, Chief Judge of
the “Suvorov Attack” race.
“The quick shot and obsta-
cle crossing have reached the
limit of military equipment,
which demonstrates a great
combination of soldier[s’ skills]
and weapon,” Su said.
China again led the
second-day competition of the
“Gunsmith Master,” finishing
the race in 17 minutes and 18.6seconds. Another five coun-
tries participating in the games
include Russia, Kazakhstan,
Armenia, Iran and Uzbekistan.
The “Gunsmith Master”
race requires soldiers to ex-
amine and repair the howitzer
in as short amount of time as
possible and then pass various
kinds of obstacles including a
combustion zone, mine field,
water zone, etc.
“The Chinese teams’ good
performances in the first two
days in the IAG definitely are
an indicator of their outstand-ing capabilities,”a Beijing-
based military expert who
asked for anonymity told the
Global Times.
“One thing to notice is
that this is the first time these
Chinese units are taking part
in the IAG as they are not
specially trained for the game,
so this also reflects their hard
work in everyday training,” the
expert added.Twelve countries contest at IAG 2019
Chinese teams lead two races at army games in Korla, Xinjiang
Page Editor:
[email protected]Type 88A tank demonstrates
its shooting ability at the
opening ceremony of the
International Army Games
2019 on Saturday in Korla,
Xinjiang. Photos: Cui Meng/GT