Taiwanese boxer Huang Hsiao-wen (黃筱雯) yesterday won bronze in the flyweight category at the Tokyo Olympics, the first medal Taiwan has ever won in the sport, after falling to world No. 2 Buse Naz Cakiroglu of Turkey in the semi-finals.
Huang, who is competing at the Olympics for the first time, lost 0-5 to Cakiroglu.
Despite the defeat, she won a medal because athletes who are defeated in a boxing semi-final at the Olympics are all awarded bronzes, unlike other Olympic sports in which losing semi-finalists vie for a single medal.
Photo: EPA-EFE
European champion Cakiroglu saw off the 1.76m Huang with a high-tempo, tactical performance, ducking Huang’s long jabs repeatedly before moving in swiftly on the counter.
Huang was visibly emotional after the bout, telling reporters how much the medal means to her and that she feels “extremely honored.”
Huang was outscored in all three rounds.
“I was too nervous,” Huang said. “Even though [Cakiroglu] is shorter, she exuded more confidence.”
Huang’s coach, Liu Tsung-tai (劉宗泰), said that his charge was not able to control her speed as well as her opponent, but he was still proud of her performance at her first Summer Games.
It has been tough for Huang to maintain her competition weight of 48kg to 51kg and he wants her to have some time off after returning to Taiwan, Liu said.
“And then we’ll start over,” he added.
Huang began crying again on hearing Liu’s words, saying that the medal is meaningful to her, being a first for Taiwan.
“I feel extremely honored to be able to bring this glory to Taiwan,” she said.
Cakiroglu is to fight 35-year-old Stoyka Zhelyazkova Krasteva of Bulgaria in Saturday’s flyweight gold medal match after she emerged on top despite a spirited performance by Japan’s Tsukimi Namiki.
“I am so, so happy, but I am trying to stay focused on the final as we came here ... to win the gold medal,” Cakiroglu said. “The mission is not complete yet.”
With Huang’s bronze, Taiwan has won 11 medals at the Tokyo Games — two gold, four silver and five bronze — the nation’s best-ever haul.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
One of two tropical depressions that formed off Taiwan yesterday morning could turn into a moderate typhoon by the weekend, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Tropical Depression No. 21 formed at 8am about 1,850km off the southeast coast, CWA forecaster Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒) said. The weather system is expected to move northwest as it builds momentum, possibly intensifying this weekend into a typhoon, which would be called Mitag, Lee said. The radius of the storm is expected to reach almost 200km, she said. It is forecast to approach the southeast of Taiwan on Monday next week and pass through the Bashi Channel
NO CHANGE: The TRA makes clear that the US does not consider the status of Taiwan to have been determined by WWII-era documents, a former AIT deputy director said The American Institute in Taiwan’s (AIT) comments that World War-II era documents do not determine Taiwan’s political status accurately conveyed the US’ stance, the US Department of State said. An AIT spokesperson on Saturday said that a Chinese official mischaracterized World War II-era documents as stating that Taiwan was ceded to the China. The remarks from the US’ de facto embassy in Taiwan drew criticism from the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, whose director said the comments put Taiwan in danger. The Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday reported that a US State Department spokesperson confirmed the AIT’s position. They added that the US would continue to
The number of Chinese spouses applying for dependent residency as well as long-term residency in Taiwan has decreased, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday, adding that the reduction of Chinese spouses staying or living in Taiwan is only one facet reflecting the general decrease in the number of people willing to get married in Taiwan. The number of Chinese spouses applying for dependent residency last year was 7,123, down by 2,931, or 29.15 percent, from the previous year. The same census showed that the number of Chinese spouses applying for long-term residency and receiving approval last year stood at 2,973, down 1,520,
RSS