Written by: Ekaterina Prodanova|SRS2021

Edited by: Aneka Rebecca Rajbhandari|SRS2021

In order to help overseas students better understand the Silk Road School, learn Chinese table tennis and its spirit, the first ping-pong friendship match of the Silk Road School was successfully held in the KaitaiBuilding on the afternoon of December 7. The event helped cultivate the relationships between teachers and students and promote campus friendly exchanges between various departments. The match received a positive response from ping-pong enthusiastson campus.

Tournament participants include:

Li Jiugao, Deputy Director of Management Committee of Renmin University of China Suzhou Campus, Dean of International School, Dean of Chinese Law School and Deputy Dean of Silk Road School,

Fang Weiwei, Party Secretary of Suzhou Campus,

Jiang Xiaoli, Vice President of Silk Road School and Vice President of International School,

Wan Jing, Director of the Academic Affairs Department of Suzhou Campus,

Ren Weiming, Director of Logistics Management Department of Suzhou Campus,

Zhu Fengyu, Director of the Teaching Management Office of Silk Road School,

Faculty representatives Tian Xin, Jiang Feng and students from the Chinese Law School and School of Arts of Silk Road School.

The competition started with Zhang Xuan and Wang Ziwei, national level-2 athletes and members of the table tennis team of Renmin University of China providing guidance and training to foreign students from Dominica, Rwanda, Bangladesh, Nigeria and other countries. The two Chinese students then gave a demonstration performance. With smooth attack and defense conversion in a dynamic game rhythm, they showed the unique charm of table tennis to the foreign students of Silk Road School.

In the second part of the event everyone was invited to take part in a friendly competition held under the motto "friendship first, competition second". All the participants had an opportunity to show their skill and style.

The participants gave their bestby stepping up and being persistent throughout the match. They were vigorous and brisk, concentrating on the blocking and smashing, skillfully using the methods and styles they had observed and learned. The room filled with cheers as each round ended.

After three hours of the match, Secretary Fang Weiwei and LilianMutoniwase, a batch of 2021 international student from Rwanda, won the first prize. The second prize went to Zhang Xuan of the school of Arts, Wang Ziwei of Sino-French Institute and two 2019 international students Rafael Salvador from Dominica and Michael Ayooluwa from Nigeria. The third prize winners were Director Ren Weiming, faculty representatives Jiang Feng and Tian Xin together withRahman MdArifur, a 2020 international student from Bangladesh.

Table tennis diplomacy has played a great role in history. Today, with a high degree of global integration, table tennis has once again become a symbol of connecting China and foreign countries and expressing friendship. The Silk Road School table tennis friendship competition provides a platform for the students to communicate with professional table tennis players, and helps students from all countries feel the Chinese table tennis spirit which is reflective on the hard work of the youth, continuous research and innovation and the overall contribution which has been essential for the development of China.