Zhanjiang competitors win two golds at WorldSkills

Two contestants from Zhanjiang took gold at the 44th Worldskills Competition held in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, from Oct 14 to 19.

Dubbed the "Olympics of World Skills", the competition is a global gathering that brings youth, educators and industries together to pit skills. Founded in 1950, it has become the largest and highest-grade skill competition in the world.

Liang Zhibin, a 19-year-old student from Wuchuan, signed up for the masonry event, which requires contestants to build three walls in four days according to the patterns assigned to them.

Judges grade their work based on appearance and structural quality. Measurements should be accurate to within one millimeter. If an error exceeds 10 millimeters, the work is considered a failure.

By perfectly blending the Arabic style into his work, Liang got 68.89 points – the highest score among all the participants -- and brought back China's first gold medal in this event.

Liang's achievement is closely tied to his unrelenting effort. "All the contestants have to practice their skills, their drawing and maintain their strength every day. Many of them cannot stick to it and quit the competition," said his coach Lin Xiaobin.

"As the competitors are all selected from different countries and regions to represent the best of their peers, much can be learnt from their operations, skills and tools," said Liang, who expects to bring them home to share with more people.

Another gold medalist, Huang Fengjie, 21, is a Zhanjiang native from Leizhou. Although he didn't make a good showing at the provincial selection for the competition, he acted calmly and struggled to make an impact, and finally became the first Chinese contestant to take gold in prototyping.