Open European Mahjong Championship

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The Open European Mahjong Championship (OEMC) is the oldest European competition of Mahjong organized by European Mahjong Association (EMA) under international rule. Both men and women are eligible to contest this title, and the championship holds both the individual event and team event. It was established in 2005 and has since then taken place on two-yearly basis. As this championship is an open competition, any non-European players may participate.

Mahjong game

Mahjong is a tile-based game that was developed in China during the Qing dynasty and has spread throughout the world since the early 20th century. It is commonly played by four players. The game and its regional variants are widely played throughout Eastern and South Eastern Asia and have become popular in Western countries too. The game has also been adapted into a widespread online entertainment. Similar to the Western card game rummy, Mahjong is a game of skill, strategy, and calculation and involves a degree of chance.

The European Mahjong Association (EMA) is an international organization for the interests of Mahjong in Europe. The main purposes are to certify competitions held by national organizations and to hold European championships.

Contents

History

After a few months later of the first world championship was held in Tokyo, 2002, Martin Rep, a Dutch Mahjong Player, decided to establish European organizations for Mahjong.

The 2002 World Championship in Mahjong was held at the Hotel Grand Place in Tokyo, Japan from October 23 to 27 in 2002. The title for this competition was "The Festival for Culture and Sport in Mah Jong".

On June 25, 2005, he promoted the first European Championship and also hold the General Assembly in Netherlands in Nijmegen, Netherlands. During this Assembly, EMA was established. Masato Chiba, from Japan, won the first championship.

Netherlands Constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Europe

The Netherlands is a country located mainly in Northwestern Europe. The European portion of the Netherlands consists of twelve separate provinces that border Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the northwest, with maritime borders in the North Sea with Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom. Together with three island territories in the Caribbean Sea—Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba— it forms a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The official language is Dutch, but a secondary official language in the province of Friesland is West Frisian.

Nijmegen City and municipality in Gelderland, Netherlands

Nijmegen is a city in the Dutch province of Gelderland, on the Waal river close to the German border.

On June 21, 2007, the 2nd European championship was held in Copenhagen, Denmark for 3 days. Martin Wedel Jacobsen from Denmark won the championship. [1] Team event was begun since this championship. In 2008, EMA began another European Mahjong Championship under Japanese Riichi rule.

On July 11, 2011, Ildikó Hargitai became the first female mahjong player who won the European championship, [2] and "French Team no1" from Freance won the team division. [3]

Champions

Individual

No.Winner2nd3rd
1 Masato Chiba (Flag of Japan.svg  Japan) Mai Hatsune (Flag of Japan.svg  Japan) Yoshinori Katō (Flag of Japan.svg  Japan)
2 Martin Wedel Jacobsen ( Flag of Denmark.svg ) Kōichi Oda (Flag of Japan.svg  Japan) Benjamin Boas (Flag of the United States.svg  USA)
3 Kōji Idota (Flag of Japan.svg  Japan) Bo Lang (Flag of Switzerland.svg   Swiss) Luca Gavelli (Flag of Italy.svg  Italy)
4 Ildikó Hargitai (Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary) Martin Faartoft (Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark) Leni Janssen (Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands)
5 Yoshihiro Suzuki (Flag of Japan.svg  Japan) Michael Zahradnik (Flag of Germany.svg  Germany) Kazutoshi Miyake (Flag of Japan.svg  Japan)
6 Yoshihiro Suzuki (Flag of Japan.svg  Japan) Linghua Jiao (Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China) Matthieu Pfeiffer (Flag of France.svg  France)

Team

No.Winner2nd3rd
2 [4] [5] Team TokyoMasato Chiba (Flag of Japan.svg  Japan)Norse WindsMartin Wedel Jacobsen (Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark)France BleuJérôme Bonifas (Flag of France.svg  France)
Sugako Suzuki (Flag of Japan.svg  Japan)Freddy Christiansen (Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark)Olivier Boivin (Flag of France.svg  France)
Yuri Tezuka (Flag of Japan.svg  Japan)Brian Krog (Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark)Vivian Hetmaniuk (Flag of France.svg  France)
Yukari Kugimiya (Flag of Japan.svg  Japan)Jeppe Stig Nielsen (Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark)Emma Guenel (Flag of France.svg  France)
3 [6] Japan JMSA KyotoKōji Idota (Flag of Japan.svg  Japan)China 2Jianming Fan (Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China)United Nations [7] Bo Lang (Flag of Switzerland.svg   Switzerland)
Shigeru Aono (Flag of Japan.svg  Japan)Jianguo Liang (Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China)Hans Wikström (Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden)
Kimito Kugimiya (Flag of Japan.svg  Japan)Jun Gao (Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China)Chris Redmond (Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom)
Kōichi Oda (Flag of Japan.svg  Japan)Hongwu Zhou (Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China)Mei Hwa Felder (Flag of Switzerland.svg   Switzerland)
4 [8] French Team no1Antony Ea (Flag of France.svg  France)Nine GatesEveline Broers (Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands)Upper 4Shi Hua Chen Kold (Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark)
Christian Enault (Flag of France.svg  France)Leni Janssen (Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands)Tina Christensen (Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark)
Sebastien Roux (Flag of France.svg  France)Chris Janssen (Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands)Martin Faartoft (Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark)
Brigitte Sandarom (Flag of France.svg  France)Claudio Porrati (Flag of Italy.svg  Italy)Jesper Willemoes Hansen (Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark)
5 [9] JMFKazutoshi Miyake (Flag of Japan.svg  Japan)Knitted TeamChris Redmond (Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom)Team SendaiYoshihiro Suzuki (Flag of Japan.svg  Japan)
Florine Leroy (Flag of France.svg  France)Luc Humbert (Flag of Switzerland.svg   Switzerland)Katsuyuki Onodera (Flag of Japan.svg  Japan)
Yaichirō Ōwaki (Flag of Japan.svg  Japan)Gérard Hêche (Flag of Switzerland.svg   Switzerland)Yasuhiro Chiba (Flag of Japan.svg  Japan)
Kenzō Tamakoshi (Flag of Japan.svg  Japan)Mei Hwa Felder (Flag of Switzerland.svg   Switzerland)Sugako Suzuki (Flag of Japan.svg  Japan)

Venues

DateEditionPlaceVenue
June 24–26, 2005 1st Open European Mahjong Championship Nijmegen, Netherlands ING-zaal, Concertgebouw de Vereeniging
June 21–24, 2007 2nd Open European Mahjong Championship Copenhagen, Denmark Idrætsfabrikken
July 1–5, 2009 3rd Open European Mahjong Championship Baden, Austria Hotel Schloss Weikersdorf
July 6–11, 2011 4th Open European Mahjong Championship Venice, Italy NH Laguna Palace Mestre-Venice
July 3–6, 2014 5th Open European Mahjong Championship Strasbourg, France Pavillon Joséphine, Parc de l'Orangerie
May 25–29, 2017 6th Open European Mahjong Championship Póvoa de Varzim, Portugal Casino da Póvoa de Varzim

See also

The World Mahjong Championship is played to determine the World Champion in the table game Mahjong held by World Mahjong Organization (WMO). Both men and women are eligible to contest this title, and the championship holds both of Individual event and Team event.

The European Riichi Mahjong Championship (ERMC) is the European competition of Mahjong certified by European Mahjong Association(EMA) under Japanese rules. Both men and women are eligible to contest this title. It was established in 2008 and has since then taken place on two yearly basis.

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References