GUANGZHOU, June 23-- Springing from the floor brandishing a long wooden stick, Michele Silva Dos Santos described an elegant arc through the air. It is the 2017 BRICS Games and the 25-year-old Brazilian wushu practitioner deeply impressed Chinese audience. "It's hard to believe such a routine was performed by a foreigner," said Chen Guizhen, a famous Chinese martial arts master. Some 300 athletes from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, gathered in south China's Guangzhou to compete in men's basketball, women's volleyball and wushu. It is not the first time Santos and her coach Luiz Carlos Nascimento Da Silva have been to China. Four years ago, in Hefei, capital of east China's Anhui Province, she spent a month in intensive training, trading blows with Chinese masters. South Africa's women's volleyball coach Hugan Coopsamy believes in the communicative power of sports. "For us, this is a learning experience. It's the first time our team has played at this level. It's a platform to set a standard for us going forward. This is the level we'd like to compete at. I hope one day South Africa can also host the BRICs Games," he said. BRICS has entered its second decade with over 10 years of cooperation in various fields behind it. The 2017 BRICS Games came out of the 8th BRICS Summit in Goa, India, where the first BRICS multilateral sports and culture events were held. |