Taiwan’s women boxers shone in the International Amateur Boxing Association Women’s Junior-Youth World Boxing Championship, taking a record two gold medals.
In 2011, Chan Yu-hsuan (詹郁宣) won bronze.
This year’s championship was held in Albena, Bulgaria, from Sept. 20 to yesterday.
Sixteen-year-old Chen Nien-chin (陳念琴) from Lienchiang County (Matsu) defeated her Chinese opponent Chen Simin (陳思敏) 3 to 0 in the championship match in the junior 75kg category on Saturday night.
Chen Nien-chin, who has family from the Amis and Bunun Aboriginal people, left Matsu after she finished junior-high school and enrolled in the Chengde High School in Hsinchu City.
Her coach Ke Wen-ming (柯文明) said that Chen was fearless against her Chinese opponent, who was taller and faster than her. He said that Chen’s strength was in her quick response, explosive force and powerful right jab.
Chen was able to continue fighting all the way to the championship match by fully developing her mighty right jab, Ke said.
“This [the gold medal] is the best Teacher’s Day gift ever,” Ke said.
Lin Yu-ting (林郁婷) won the nation’s second gold on the same day, overcoming a strong foe from Turkey 3 to 0 in the youth 51kg category.
A student of New Taipei Municipal Yingge Vocational High School, Lin had told Taiwanese reporters that she decided to start boxing to protect her mother from her abusive father.
“When I was little, my dad would often beat my mom. So, I joined the boxing team so that I could protect my mom on my own,” she said.
She also said in the interview that she would not lose any opportunity to attack, until being stopped by the referee, adding that her goal was to stand on the world stage and let people know who she is.
Lin’s mother, Liao Hsiu-lan (廖秀蘭), said that the boxing training was indeed a grueling process.
“[Lin] has only boxed for two to three years, but the wounds were so painful and require patches or applied ointment,” Liao said.
Lin’s coach, Tseng Tzu-chiang (曾自強), said that Lin was a very competitive and would often blame herself for not doing well. She would lose sleep sometimes during periods of intense training.
Having watched Lin from the sideline of the championship match, Tseng said that he was excited about the victory. He thanked the New Taipei City (新北市) Government for giving him the job, adding that he is confident he can turn Yingge into a boxing town.
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