STORY: Asiad Express: Yemeni coach sees peace and friendship at Hangzhou Asian Games
DATELINE: Oct. 2, 2023
LENGTH: 00:02:41
LOCATION: HANGZHOU, China
CATEGORY: SPORTS

SHOTLIST:
1. STANDUP (English): WU YAO, Xinhua correspondent
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): NAJI AL-ASHWAL, Coach of Yemeni Sanda team
3. photos of Al-Ashwal training in Shanghai
4. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): NAJI AL-ASHWAL, Coach of Yemeni Sanda team
5. photos of Al-Ashwal training in Yemen
6. SOUNDBITE 3 (English): NAJI AL-ASHWAL, Coach of Yemeni Sanda team
7. various of street views in Sanaa
8. SOUNDBITE 4 (English): NAJI AL-ASHWAL, Coach of Yemeni Sanda team
9. photos of Yemni Wushu team competing in Hangzhou Asian Games

STORYLINE:

STANDUP (English): WU YAO, Xinhua correspondent
"All Wushu competitions of the Hangzhou Asian Games were finished on Thursday last week.
China, the birthplace of Wushu, is not the only country stealing the spotlight. Many other nations have also wowed the crowd with their exceptional performances. Naji Al-Ashwal, a coach for the Yemeni Wushu team, has shared his experience coming to the Games despite the challenges posed by the ongoing civil war."

SOUNDBITE 1 (English): NAJI AL-ASHWAL, Coach of Yemeni Sanda team
"We are in Sanda. My team is with two athletes. They were training in Shandong (in east China) one month before the competition at the Asian Games."

Al-Ashwal's own Wushu journey began two decades ago with a student training program in Shanghai.

Over the years, he came to China multiple times for competitions until the breakout of the civil war in Yemen more than eight years ago.

SOUNDBITE 2 (English): NAJI AL-ASHWAL, Coach of Yemeni Sanda team
"I started training Wushu at Shanghai University 20 years ago. I went to a student training in Sanda at Shanghai University and I have been to Shanghai nine times for training. I started from 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, until 2009. After 13 years, I came back to China. We stopped coming to competitions because of the war in Yemen. But now we come back again to this competition."

Due to the war, training and traveling for competitions have become a formidable task.

SOUNDBITE 3 (English): NAJI AL-ASHWAL, Coach of Yemeni Sanda team
"Because of the war, there was no airport in Sanaa. We had to travel to another place, which was very far from the center of our country. To travel maybe 14 hours to a different (city) in Yemen. It's Aden. And we had a lot of problems on the road."

Despite living in a war-torn country, Al-Ashwal found inspiration in the unity and friendship displayed by Asian countries at the Hangzhou Asiad.

SOUNDBITE 4 (English): NAJI AL-ASHWAL, Coach of Yemeni Sanda team
"We see peace at the opening ceremony. We see every country's friendship, Iraq, Afghanistan, Jordan, Yemen, Iran, and Kazakhstan. All countries are friends at this Asian Games."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Hangzhou, China.
(XHTV)