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.

History

Since the propagation of Mahjong at the beginning of the 20th century, the rules of Mahjong have been inconsistent all around the world. In January 1998, Mahjong was certified as the 255th sport by General Administration of Sport of China at the urging of Japan. In September, unified Chinese rules were codified for international competitions. On October 23, 2002, the first world championship was held in Iidabashi, Tokyo, Japan over three days, but this event was not counted as the first world championship.

After the establishment of World Mahjong Organization(WMO) in 2006, the official first world championship was held in Chengdu, Sichuan, China on November 1, 2007 and lasted for five days. Li Li, a Chinese student of Tsinghua University, won the championship. In team event, China Shanxi Jiexiu won the championship with 94 table points.

On June 15, 2007, World Mahjong ltd.(WML), the company based on Hong Kong, promoted the World Series Of Mahjong (WSOM) in Macau. This event took the prize system of US$1,000,000 and the winner was given US$500,000. This event was a competition held by a private company and it was not certified by WMO.

The second official World Mahjong Championship (WMC) took place in Utrecht from August 27 to August 29, 2010. The new World Champion again comes from China: Ms. Linghua Jiao won the competition with 32 table points (acquired in 9 sessions). The follow-ups were both Europeans – the same held true for the country ranking, which was calculated as a team score of the best three national players from each country: China ranked first with 85 table points, followed by France (78 TP) and Denmark (77 TP).

Champions

Individual

No.DatesVenueGoldSilverBronze
—October 23, 2002Japan Hotel Grand Palace, Iidabashi, TokyoJapan Mai HatsuneUnited States John J. O'ConnorJapan Yūichi Ikeya
1November 1–5, 2007China Hong Zhu Shan Hotel, Chengdu, SichuanChina Li LiChina Zhangfei ZhangJapan Minoru Imaeda
2August 27–29, 2010Netherlands Nationaal Denksport Centrum 'Den Hommel', UtrechtChina Linghua JiaoFrance Olivier BoivinAustria Elisabeth Frischenschlager
3October 25, 2012China ChongqingChina Yanbin DuanChina Zhangfei ZhangChina Changjian Li
4November 11–15, 2015South Korea Haevichi Hotel & Resort, JejuChina Zhou YongChina Linghua JiaoFrance Joël Ratsimandresy
5October 26–28, 2017China Xi'anChina Baohua SunFrance Joël RatsimandresyCanada Jianzhong Jiang
6November 1–3, 2019France Salle de l'Atelier, Villefranche-sur-SaôneChina Zhou YongFrance Sandra BerthommierFrance Frédéric Petit
7October 11–14, 2024Canada Mississauga Convention Center, MississaugaCanada Gao ErfeiGermany Dagmar FischerCanada Lin Hai

Team

No.YearGoldSilverBronze
—2002Japan Young Pros Team BChina GuangzhouJapan Japan Health Mahjong Association Selected Team
12007China China Shanxi JiexiuChina China Shanghai ZhangjiangJapan Japan Mahjong Sport Association Osaka
22010China China (Top-3 players)France France (Top-3 players)Denmark Denmark (Top-3 players)
62019France France (Top-3 players)Russia Russia (Top-3 players)China China (Top-3 players)
72024Canada CanadaGermany GermanyFrance France

Venues

DateEditionLocationVenue
October 23, 20022002 World Championship in MahjongIidabashi, Tokyo, JapanHotel Grand Palace
November 1, 20071st World Mahjong Championship 2007Chengdu, Sichuan, ChinaHong Zhu Shan Hotel
August 27, 20102nd World Mahjong Championship 2010Utrecht, NetherlandsNationaal Denksport Centrum 'Den Hommel'
October 25, 20123rd World Mahjong Championship 2012Chongqing, China
November 11, 20154th World Mahjong Championship 2015Jeju, Korea
November 25, 20175th World Mahjong Championship 2016Xi'an, China
November 1, 20196th World Mahjong Championship 2019Villefranche-sur-Saône, France
October 11, 20247th World Mahjong Championship 2024Mississauga, Canada

See also

External links