China failed to achieve ideal results at the fifth Open Mahjong Championship in Strasbourg, France, the West China Metropolis Daily reports.

A total of 10 Chinese players took part in the contest. Yan Wenying claimed the 30th position, the highest ranking among Chinese. His team Guohua ranked 37th in team competition.

The individual title was claimed by a Japanese competitor, and the runner-up was a man from Germany. Japan also won the other top three positions, while the team title was snatched by JMF, consisting of three Japanese and a French player.

The news has been a hot topic on Sina Weibo, a Chinese equivalent of Twitter. Most netizens couldn't accept the results, saying the competitors didn't represent the real level of a common Chinese person's ability to play Mahjong.

One netizen said his shock at the news was no less than the Brazilians when they lost 1-7 to Germany at the semi-final of the World Cup. Another said the best Mahjong players are among the common people, and they didn't even know about such a competition.

Mahjong originated in China and is a favorite pastime among Chinese people all over the world.

The Open European Mahjong Championship is the oldest Mahjong competition organized by the European Mahjong Association.