Taiwanese go player Hsu Hao-hung, the 2022 Asian Games gold medalist, has claimed his first domestic title of this year by fending off challenger Hsu Ching-en 4-2 in a best-of-seven Taiwan Tengen final series.
The ninth-dan Hsu Hao-hung, playing black on Monday, defeated Hsu Ching-en in Taipei after the latter resigned on the 257th move. It was the first match in the series in which the winner played as black.
The victory marked Hsu Hao-hung’s fourth consecutive Tengen title, tying the record for the longest winning streak in the event’s history with former Taiwanese go ace Wang Yuan-chun.
Photo: CNA
Wang dominated the annual tournament from 2015 to 2018 and still holds the record for the most Tengen titles, with six — two more than Hsu Hao-hung.
The title was Hsu Hao-hung’s first of the year after he swept all eight major domestic tournaments last year and shifted his focus to international competition.
He skipped the HaiFong Tournament, which traditionally opens the pro calendar, and suffered a quarter-final exit at the Taiwan Meijin, the domestic tournament with the most prize money.
Hsu Hao-hung also came close to faltering in Monday’s match, with his winning probability at one point dropping to single digits, according to a go-playing artificial intelligence program.
“I made some mistakes early in the match, but my opponent gave me a chance later on as he played more conservatively — probably because he was confident about winning,” Hsu Hao-hung said in a post-game interview.
“I think the first match was the key. I gained more confidence after pulling off a comeback win,” Hsu Hao-hung said.
Lin Shih-hsun, an eighth-dan professional who served as commentator on Monday, said the match showcased Hsu Hao-hung’s strength in the endgame.
However, Lin also said that the 4-2 series result pointed to the emergence of 18-year-old sixth-dan Hsu Ching-en, saying he could become a real threat to Hsu Hao-hung within two years if he continued to improve.
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