TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwanese breakdancer Sun Chen (孫振) won the individual male category for the Outbreak Europe 2024 competition in Slovakia on Sunday (Aug. 25).
Sun, also known as B-Boy Quake, took first in the 1 vs 1 Breaking category of the annual competition, which ran from Aug. 18-25. After winning Sun referenced Taiwanese baseball player Wang Chien-ming (王建民) by saying he hopes to become the “Wang Chien-ming of breakdancing” to gain more global recognition for Taiwan, per UDN.
Sun was the first Taiwanese to qualify for breakdancing at the Olympics. Although he did not advance past the Olympic preliminaries, the experience helped hone his skills. Last week, he and his dance crew, City4, started to build momentum by taking second place at the Notorious IBE 2024 international hip-hop dance festival in Heerlan, Netherlands.
At Outbreak Europe, which featured 500 B-boys, Sun advanced through the rounds and faced Ukrainian B-boy Raptor in the finals where he emerged victorious and secured the championship.
In a post-competition interview, Sun said he participated in Outbreak Europe in 2019, where he advanced to the top eight but was defeated by his idol, B-boy Lil G. He set a goal to win the European championship, and he has now finally achieved it.
Sun said B-boy Lil G, who was eliminated in the top 16, congratulated him after the competition. "I admire how B-boy Lil G has used breakdancing to showcase Venezuela to the world, so I jokingly said I wanted to become the Wang Chien-ming of breakdancing, hoping to use breakdancing to make the world recognize Taiwan as well."
He said, "Dancing is like that. As your soul matures, it reflects in your dance which also becomes more mature. After this baptism, I feel I have grown a lot."
Sun will continue with his dance crew to Portugal to participate in the World Battle 2024 urban art and dance festival from Aug. 28 to Sep. 1, the final stop of his European tour.
Sun holds up a placard announcing his winnings including a 500 euro (NT$17,000) cash prize:
Video shows finals of major categories at Outbreak Europe 2024:
Video shows Sun being announced as the winner:
