Taiwan women's team win Asian taekwondo title, secure full Asian Games quota

Taipei, May 25 (CNA) 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 (王婕菱) and Chang Jui-en (張芮恩), also secured a full quota of berths for Taiwan at the Asian Games in Nagoya in September.

Wang, 17, opened Taiwan's medal run by winning the women's under-46 kilogram category on Thursday, the first day of competition, to claim gold.

Liu Yu-yun (劉侑芸) later earned a silver medal in the under-49kg division.

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 (林唯均) took bronze in the women's under-57kg category.

Chang defeated China's Luo Zongshi (駱宗詩), a world championships gold medalist, 2-1 in a closely contested three-round final.

Taiwan head coach Su Tai-yuan (蘇泰源) praised both Chang and Lin for their performances, lauding Chang's composure against Luo, in particular.

Chang executed the coaching staff's strategy almost perfectly under pressure, Su told CNA.

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, noting that Taiwan had struggled in recent years in taekwondo competitions, which were once a dependable source of medals for the national team.

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 will celebrate briefly, then return to training, the coach said.

Taiwan will hold final selection trials for its Nagoya Asian Games squad at the National Sports Training Center on Friday.

While the women's team has secured a full quota of berths for the Nagoya Asian Games in September, the men's squad is still awaiting confirmation from the organizers, Su said, adding that the men's team is expected to receive places in at least two or three weight classes.