Ke Jie

Chinese go player Ke Jie defeated Republic of Korea (ROK) player Park Jung Hwan on August 18, making it the eighth consecutive year that China has won the Nongshim Cup.

Go is a strategic board game originating in China with a history of over 2,500 years. Known officially as the Shinramyun Cup World Baduk Championship, the Nongshim Cup is the only international team championship and invites five players from China, the ROK and Japan, and is one of the world's most anticipated go competitions.

The 23-year-old Ke is the youngest seven-time champion in the history of the game and is currently considered the world's best go player. In 2017 Ke played against AlphaGo, an artificial intelligence go program by Google. The face-off between Ke and AlphaGo was one of China's most talked-about news events in 2017, attracting hundreds of millions of views on social media and considerable attention to the game globally.

Ke, who has been playing go professionally since the age of 10, was honored by the General Administration of Sport in China in 2015 with the title of World-Class Athlete.