ASIAN GAMES/Chien wins Taiwan's first medal at Asian Games in women's karate

Nagoya, Sept. 20 (CNA) Taiwanese athlete Chien Hui-hsuan (簡慧萱) won a bronze medal in the women's individual kata event in karate on Sunday, earning Taiwan's first medal at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

Chien secured the medal -- her first in Asian Games competition -- by defeating Iran's Fatemeh Sadeghi 4-1 in the bronze medal bout.

After winning bronze, Chien thanked her friends and family for their support, as well as herself for putting in the effort.

"Even though there were times when a breakthrough was hard to achieve, I pushed through," she said.

Chien recalled losing to Sadeghi in a Karate World Championships qualifying event in October 2025, which cost her a place in the competition.

That led her to switch to a kata with which she was more familiar, and it paid off, with Chien saying she was glad to have earned recognition from the judges.

Chien, who will turn 35 next Sunday, said she was happy to win a medal and hoped the result would encourage the rest of Taiwan's karate team, including two younger teammates who will join her in the women's team kata event on Tuesday.

The karate veteran narrowly missed out on a bronze medal at her first Asian Games in 2022, finishing just 0.6 points short.

Believing that her results would not improve unless she made an effort to improve, Chien said she had traveled abroad, often at her own expense, for competitions and training over the past six months.

She said she went to Okinawa, Oita and Tottori in Japan, as well as Spain, where she trained with Olympic gold medalist Sandra Sánchez. The trips were highly rewarding, she said, adding that she had done her best to incorporate what she learned into her own style.