Taiwan's hopes for a gold medal were dashed yesterday during the first day of Taekwondo when its two top competitors in the sport, Huang Chih-hsiung (
The two managed to win medals in the run-off for the bronze, however, showing that regardless of their setbacks, Taiwan is still a force to reckoned with in the sport.
"Originally I had hoped for a gold so it is a bit of a let-down, but I am happy I got the bronze," a sweat-drenched Huang said after his 4-0 victory over Argentina's Gabriel Alberto Taraburelli.
PHOTO: REUTERS
"It was reasonable to hope for the gold," Huang said, who was ranked first in the men's under 58kg category coming into the match. "But in the end it all comes down to how you perform in competition."
Huang lost his shot at the gold in the quarterfinals against Greece's Michail Mouroutsos, 2-1.
Huang got out in front during the first round of the match, but then Mouroustsos poured on the steam during the third round as Huang's points failed to stick and the Greek competitor's score rose by three, shedding one point because of a deduction.
Mouroutsos, whose most recent achievement was winning the Balkan Taekwondo Championship in Yugoslavia, went on to win the gold, beating Spain's Gabriel Esparza 4-2 in the gold medal round. Esparza came in second during the Olympic trials in 1999 behind Huang.
"I feel very beautiful. This is my absolute dream, my secret dream which I have deep inside of me. Of course it hasn't sunk in yet," Mouroutsos said after winning the gold.
Chi faced similar challenges in her crucial quarterfinal match as her points failed to stick and she lost out in a tie.
While her long legs gave her an easy win in her opening match, she stumbled against a roaring home crowd in her fight against Australia's Lauren Burns. Tied 3-3, the match was given to Burns who apparently was judged to have been more aggressive.
Chi came back in the bronze medal round beating Denmark's Hanne Hoegh Poulsen 4-0. Poulsen began her day upsetting Kay Poe from the US, who was originally expected to progress to the gold medal round.
"My results aren't what I expected, my parents won't be too happy with the results," Chi said after winning the bronze.
"If there had been more fans from Taiwan out there [during the quarterfinal] maybe I would have felt like I had more support," she added, saying that the noise from the crowd felt like it came directly from her opponent.
Burns went on to win the gold medal yesterday beating Cuba's Urbia Melendez Rodriguez 4-2.
"I gathered everything I had and I put my heart and soul into it. I should have won," Burns said defending her victory.
"Taekwondo is a subjective sport ... It is a subjective sport because you've got humans judging rather than machines. There's a dispute in every sport."
But it was this dispute that many, including other athletes, felt led to Huang and especially Chi's loss yesterday.
"The first point she scored was right, I don't dispute that. The next two points, I hardly felt the kick and I don't know how they were scored," Chi said. "As soon as the audience cheered, the judges scored and this wasn't really fair."
Chi's coach agreed. During Chi's match her coach, Lee Hyun-suk (李賢祏), waved his arms in frustration after judges missed two direct hits. Lee, however did not file a protest after the match.
Apparently he should have. Cuba's Melendez Rodriguez agreed that the judging was flawed.
"The judges here somehow favored Australian athletes," she said.
"Although I didn't see them, because I was in a different pool, the gold medal contest should have been contested between Chinese Taipei and Denmark."
Huang said he had a similar experience in his match.
"When I should have gotten points and didn't, it started to bother me and it bore down on my performance," Huang said.
Coleman Lee (
"If the score is tight the judges will give the match to the more aggressive opponent. Our people have a different way of fighting," Lee said.
Lee also said that both athletes had to work hard to get their weight down to competition levels, which may have hindered their performance.
"I would hope that in the future, athletes would get down to their required weight at least a month beforehand," Lee said.
Huang was unclear after the match of what his future plans would be. His coach, Sung Ching-hung (
Those plans now are apparently on hold.
In addition to possible plans to study abroad in the near future, Huang said he would look next to the Asian Games.
When Chi, 19, was asked about her plans, she said with a stern look of determination, "I'll prepare for my next match."
Today two more of Taiwan's competitors will take to the mat, Hsu Chih-ling (許芷菱) in the women's under 57kg competition and Hsu Chi-hung (許吉宏) in the men's under 68kg competition.
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