Taiwan Today

Taekwondo athlete Hsu Chia-lin defeated his South Korean opponent to win the over 54-kilogram event Dec. 7 and take home Taiwan’s first gold medal at the 2009 East Asian Games in Hong Kong. Taiwan grabbed a total of four medals in taekwondo for the day, with Chan Yi-chieh, Lee Hsing-hua and Chen Ying-chiu each grabbing silvers in their respective events. Chen had to settle for runner-up spot after defeating Beijing Olympic gold medalist Wu Jingyu of mainland China in the semi-finals in the women’s over 58-kg category. Lee and Chan finished second in the women’s 47-kg and men’s 58-kg categories, respectively. The haul of one gold and three silver medals marked the nation’s best one-day tally in the sport at a major tournament. Afterwards, coach Liu Ching-wen expressed satisfaction with his team’s performance and said he hopes his athletes can win more gold medals in matches slated for the next day. Seventeen-year-old Hsu demonstrated perseverance in his championship match, battling Cho Seongin to a tie before unleashing a one-strike attack to triumph in the sudden death round. The senior high school student had made it to the finals with a win over an opponent from Macau in the first round and a 10-3 victory over mainland China’s Gao Changmin in the semi-finals. After securing his first gold at a major event, an excited Hsu ran over to the sidelines and embraced his other coach Liu Tsung-ta, who flew from Taiwan to cheer him on, and told him, “I’m going to cherish this medal.” Hsu told reporters following his triumph: “I was really nervous before the match, but I forced myself to calm down, which allowed me to win the match.” Sunday’s final match was not Hsu’s first against his South Korean rivals. Hsu met earlier this year at the Asian taekwondo championships with a South Korean opponent, also battling to the sudden death round. He lost the battle and took home a silver on that occasion. Although still relatively young, Hsu has been participating in competitions frequently this year, including several major tournaments. He grabbed a gold medal at the 5th Korea Open in August and made it to the round of eight at the world taekwondo championships. Coach Liu praised Hsu for his gold medal performance Sunday. He said that the up-and-coming star “added to his experience in major competitions, and he’ll do even better in the future.” (SB)