When Taiwan’s budding taekwondo star Lin Wan-ting made her international debut at the East Asian Games in October last year, her sights were already set on winning a gold medal at the Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea.
Yesterday, she fell just short of that ambition, claiming a silver medal in the women’s 46kg class after losing 10-4 in the final to world No. 1 Kim So-hui of South Korea.
The 18-year-old, who shocked Kim in the round-of-16 at the Asian Championships in May, beating her 8-7, kept pace with her South Korean rival through two scoreless rounds and through much of the final round, when the two traded penalty points and kicks.
However, an aggressive attacking move by Kim with about 30 seconds left put Lin on the defensive and resulted in a three-point kick to the Taiwanese’s head to put the South Korean up 6-3.
Kim then clinched the win in the final seconds with a four-point reverse kick to Lin’s face that was granted after a challenge by Kim’s coach.
Lin, who finished third at the Asian Championships, did well to get to the final.
She beat Asian champion Panipak Wongpattanakit of Thailand in the semi-finals, 5-4, after building a 5-1 lead and then holding off the hard-charging Thai in the final 30 seconds, conceding just three points.
Meanwhile, in softball, Taiwan’s women’s team lost their semi-final against Japan 6-1, setting up a bronze-medal match against the Philippines, who lost their semi-final 3-0 to China.
In the basketball, Taiwan’s women also lost to China, going down 75-63 to set up a bronze-medal clash with Japan, who were edged 58-53 by South Korea.
In the canoe kayak obstacle slalom quarter-finals, Taiwan’s Chang Yun-chuan defeated South Korea’s Oh Yea-chan in the canoe single men’s class to make the semi-finals, while fellow Taiwanese Chang Chu-han defeated Singapore’s Annabella Ng to progress to the semis of the kayak single women’s class.
Taiwan’s rugby team finally got a victory yesterday when they defeated Lebanon 54-5 in their final group game, before crashing to a 57-0 defeat to Japan in the quarters.
Additional reporting by Dave Carroll
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