Navies bond over sports matches

Sailors from China, Russia build trust ahead of joint drill

"Ping-pong diplomacy" is once again showing its magic as players from the Chinese and Russian navies hugged and laughed over a ping-pong competition on Saturday.

"We do not speak the same language, but sports is a unique global language that helps us communicate and become friends with each other," said Li Feng, one of the six ping-pong players from the Chinese navy, after the Chinese won seven of nine games with their Russian counterparts in Vladivostok.

Ping-pong, a popular game across China, was part of the exchange program under the China-Russia "Joint Sea 2013" exercises, which began on July 5 and continue through Friday in Peter the Great Bay near Vladivostok.

The Chinese team's leader, Guo Yuewu, said his team's wins were not as easy as the results suggested.

"They (Russian player) played incredibly well, and we were evenly matched," Guo said. "The Russian players might just lack some experience and a bit of luck."

Li was also impressed by his Russian opponents' strong will and sense of humor. He said members of the teams became friends quickly after the games because of their mutual interest in ping-pong.

Attracted by the ping-pong competition, chief directors of the two task forces came to cheer for the athletes.

Leonid Sukhanov, deputy chief of the Russian Navy Main Staff, shrugged off the results and said with a laughter that the Russian team lost only because he could not compete due to sickness.

Hearing that, Ding Yiping, deputy commander of the Chinese People's Liberation Army navy, smashed several nice shots against Wang Zhen, the star player of the Chinese team.

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