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Asian flavor accents sporting eventsBy Unus Alladin  Wushu can be traced to 3,000 B.C., and combines elements of martial arts and gymnastics. 2005 EAST ASIAN GAMESMACAU, China (CNN) -- Dance sport, wushu, dragonboat racing and soft tennis don't come to mind immediately when thinking of events at international sporting competitions. Those sports and others will be contested at the Fourth East Asian Games. And it will be taken seriously for medals will be at stake. While 17 sports will be contested by almost 2,000 athletes in Macau, countries like Mongolia, Guam and North Korea will ensure an eclectic mix of nations, representing different cultures and traditions of the nine nations or regions competing. And while most athletes will put on their sneakers, boots and spikes for the more mainstreamed sports like athletics, basketball and soccer, some athletes will be putting on their dancing shoes. Dance sport will represent one of the more unusual sports that will be competed in Macau, but the sport's popularity has soared in recent years. Hollywood movies like Shall We Dance? have given the sport a timely boost, making it more acceptable as a physical activity that requires among others, co-ordination, style and grace. Now, it will be a medal sport at the Fourth East Asian Games with couples dancing to the Waltz, Tango, Viennese Waltz, Slow Foxtrot, Quickstep, Samba, Cha-Cha-Cha, Rumba, Paso Doble and Jive. In total, 10 gold medals will be up for grabs. Because the sport is rather new, organizers are unsure which country might dominate the event, but teams from South Korea, Japan and even China are expected to do well as ballroom dancing is considered popular in those countries. "Dance sport can be considered a physical activity like gymnastics and diving and contestants are judged by many things like how they perform their routines and how well matched they are as a couple,'' said a Macau event organizer. "Dance sport will allow some of the other countries like Guam and Mongolia to shine in the event. The event is for them as well.'' Although dance sport represents one of the more curious sports at the Fourth East Asian Games, the martial arts form of wushu has already established itself as a respectable sport for many years. Wushu has been contested as a medal sport since the 1990 Asian Games in Beijing and is considered one of the more hotly-contested events in Macau, where China, South Korea and Japan and even Hong Kong are considered the strongest teams. The sport also represents the biggest chance for Macau to shine too. Wushu can be described as a mixture of martial arts and gymnastics, combining speed, grace and power. Surprisingly, injuries are common in this sport and even the untrained eye can differentiate the huge gulf in class between the top teams and the less talented ones. Wushu is a Chinese martial arts form and its roots can be traced back to 3,000 B.C. It comprises of two disciplines: Taolu [routines] and Sanshou [fight]. China, South Korea, Mongolia, North Korea, Hong Kong and Macau will represent the world's top wushu nations at the East Asian Games. Dragonboat racing will also be contested in Macau, although organizers say the sport has a very long history in Asia, made popular by the annual Dragonboat Festival, which is celebrated every summer in many Asian cities. The annual Macau International Dragonboat Races attracts more than 3,000 visitors from around the world alone. But this time, it is a medal sport in Macau. Soft tennis will also be a medal sport at the fourth East Asian Games, giving the smaller nations a chance to display their mettle in the watered-down version of the game. Soft tennis gained popularity in Japan in the late 19th century. A rubber ball is used and it consists of only one set match, although both singles and doubles will be competed. The 17 sports that will be contested in Macau are: aquatics (swimming and diving), basketball, dance sport, soccer, hockey, rowing, soft tennis, tennis, wushu, athletics, bowling, dragonboat racing, gymnastics, karate-do, shooting, taekwondo and weightlifting. The East Asian Games are considered a ''mini-Asian Games'' with just nine countries and regions competing oppose to 45 nations -- comprising some 12,000 athletes and officials -- who usually take part in the Asian Games. The next Asian Games will be held in Doha, Qatar in 2006. A total of 38 sports will be competed in Doha, as opposed to just 17 in Macau. By hosting the fourth East Asian Games, Macau hope they will go on to eventually host the Asian Games just like Pusan did in 2002 having hosted the 2nd East Asian Games in 1997. 
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