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.
CROSS-STRAIT COLLABORATION: The new KMT chairwoman expressed interest in meeting the Chinese president from the start, but she’ll have to pay to get in Beijing allegedly agreed to let Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) around the Lunar New Year holiday next year on three conditions, including that the KMT block Taiwan’s arms purchases, a source said yesterday. Cheng has expressed interest in meeting Xi since she won the KMT’s chairmanship election in October. A source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a consensus on a meeting was allegedly reached after two KMT vice chairmen visited China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Director Song Tao (宋濤) in China last month. Beijing allegedly gave the KMT three conditions it had to
STAYING ALERT: China this week deployed its largest maritime show of force to date in the region, prompting concern in Taipei and Tokyo, which Beijing has brushed off Deterring conflict over Taiwan is a priority, the White House said in its National Security Strategy published yesterday, which also called on Japan and South Korea to increase their defense spending to help protect the first island chain. Taiwan is strategically positioned between Northeast and Southeast Asia, and provides direct access to the second island chain, with one-third of global shipping passing through the South China Sea, the report said. Given the implications for the US economy, along with Taiwan’s dominance in semiconductors, “deterring a conflict over Taiwan, ideally by preserving military overmatch, is a priority,” it said. However, the strategy also reiterated
‘BALANCE OF POWER’: Hegseth said that the US did not want to ‘strangle’ China, but to ensure that none of Washington’s allies would be vulnerable to military aggression Washington has no intention of changing the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on Saturday, adding that one of the US military’s main priorities is to deter China “through strength, not through confrontation.” Speaking at the annual Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California, Hegseth outlined the US Department of Defense’s priorities under US President Donald Trump. “First, defending the US homeland and our hemisphere. Second, deterring China through strength, not confrontation. Third, increased burden sharing for us, allies and partners. And fourth, supercharging the US defense industrial base,” he said. US-China relations under
The Chien Feng IV (勁蜂, Mighty Hornet) loitering munition is on track to enter flight tests next month in connection with potential adoption by Taiwanese and US armed forces, a government source said yesterday. The kamikaze drone, which boasts a range of 1,000km, debuted at the Taipei Aerospace and Defense Technology Exhibition in September, the official said on condition of anonymity. The Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology and US-based Kratos Defense jointly developed the platform by leveraging the engine and airframe of the latter’s MQM-178 Firejet target drone, they said. The uncrewed aerial vehicle is designed to utilize an artificial intelligence computer
RSS