Photo: Lin Xiaoyi/GT

On October 7, the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang ­Province, held the first men's and women's breaking events in the history of the Games. After three rounds of ­intense competition, 17-year-old ­Chinese breakdancer Liu Qingyi defeated Japan's Yuasa Ami with a score of 2-1 to win the breaking women's gold medal and directly qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. In the men's gold medal battle, Japanese dancer ­Nakarai Shigeyuki defeated South Korea's Kim Hongyul 2-1. China's Qi Xiangyu won the event's bronze medal. 

"I'm very happy to win this the medal today. I think it was not an easy battle for me to win because I had many competitions recently and I just came back to China after the world championship. I think it was a tough challenge for me physically and mentally, but I did a pretty good job today because I am now competing on my home soil, China, and I have the support of the audience" Liu said during a post-match news conference.

The opening of the breaking event in the Hangzhou Games was the first appearance of the sport in the highest level of Asia's comprehensive sports meeting, attracting more than 40 breakdancers from all over Asia.

In January, China established its first-ever national breaking team, which consists of eight breakdancers (four Bboys and four Bgirls). The team is very young, with Zheng Ziyan being the youngest at the age of 15.

Liu is undoubtedly the main force in the Chinese team. She won the silver medal at the World DanceSport Federation (WDSF) World Breaking Championships in 2022, which was also China's first medal at the Championships. 

Known for her dynamic and powerful style, Liu pocketed two championship triumphs and one silver at the WDSF Breaking for Gold (BfG) World Series. 

Originating in the 1970s, breakdancing, a form of street dance, attaches great importance to personal style based skills while absorbing a large number of dance styles such as Brazilian war dance, gymnastics and Chinese martial arts. The elements of different sports and art forms are highly enjoyable to watch.

"After I participated in breaking competitions, the first foreign country I ever traveled to is China. So I'm quite used to playing in China and I think it's a very good experience to play in China in front of the Chinese audience," said Nakarai.

During the news conference, Nakarai also commented on the performance of Team China. 

"I battled against Bboys from China in the pre-selection, the semifinal and the final, I think they had very amazing performances. So I do believe China now has a very strong breakdancing community and that Chinese breakdancing will develop well," he said.