Taiwan’s women’s team captured the overall title at the Asian Taekwondo Championships in Mongolia on Sunday, finishing with two golds, one silver and one bronze medal.
The strong showing, led by gold medalists Wang Chieh-ling and Chang Jui-en secured the full quota of available spots for Taiwan at the Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan, in September.
Wang opened Taiwan’s medal run by winning gold in the women’s under-46kg class on Thursday, the first day of competition.
Photo provided by coach Su Tai-yuan
Liu Yu-yun later earned a silver in the under-49kg class.
On the final day on Sunday, Chang won Taiwan’s second gold medal in the under-62kg event, and Hangzhou Asian Games silver medalist Lin Wei-chun took bronze in the women’s under-57kg category.
Chang defeated China’s Luo Zongshi, a world championships gold medalist, 2-1 in a closely contested three-round final.
Taiwan head coach Su Tai-yuan praised Chang and Lin for their performances, lauding Chang’s composure against Luo.
Chang executed the coaching staff’s strategy almost perfectly under pressure, Su said.
Wang was named the tournament’s best female athlete, while Su received the award for best women’s team coach.
The results were “like a dream,” Su said, adding that Taiwan’s national team have lost some of their traditional dominance in international taekwondo competitions.
Su said that since he took over as head coach of the team last year, he has been focused on rebuilding discipline and gradually improving the team’s competitiveness.
In previous international competitions, the gap between the world’s top athletes and Taiwan’s was obvious, he said, adding that it was a big challenge to reach global standards.
Following the Taiwan team’s breakthrough performance at the Asian championships, the athletes would celebrate briefly, then return to training, the coach said.
Taiwan is holding final selection trials for its Nagoya Asian Games squad at the National Sports Training Center on Friday.
While the women’s team have secured the full quota of berths for the Nagoya Asian Games in September, the men’s squad are still awaiting confirmation from the organizers, Su said, adding that the men’s team are expected to receive places in at least two or three weight classes.
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