Liu Xingyu helps Guizhou win standard crossbow mixed team gold at National Ethnic Games

At the 12th National Traditional Games of Ethnic Minorities of the People's Republic of China, three-time event participant Liu Xingyu helped Guizhou Province win gold in the standard crossbow mixed team final in Sanya, south China's Hainan Province, on Monday.

Crossbow shooting has been popular in the southwest Chinese provinces of Yunnan and Guizhou, as well as south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, with the Miao and Yi ethnic groups considered among the event's best practitioners. At this year's National Traditional Games, Liu scored nine points on his last shot to seal the win with an overall score of 191 points for Guizhou.

"I'm from the Miao ethnic group," Liu told CGTN Sports Scene's Zhu Mandan. "We used to use the crossbow for hunting, but now we just use it for sporting events, and as a recreational sport. Shooting a crossbow is more like archery, except that it has a trigger like a rifle."

According to Liu, the sport is part of his ancient culture and he feels it's important to carry forward the tradition through sporting events.

"Competing in this event promotes cultural and sporting exchanges among ethnic minority groups," he noted. "And this is a great opportunity to further develop the traditional sports as well, so I'm very happy to be a part of this for the third time, and I hope there are many more to come."

Guizhou secured their second title in the sport, after Wang Renai won the traditional crossbow men's standing position final on Sunday.