Taiwan's Asian Games medal tally is best in 12 years

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan added one silver and four bronze medals at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, yesterday as the multi-sports event approaches its end this coming Sunday.
Taiwan's medal haul of 57 is its best in 12 years. Taiwan's Huang Yu-chi finished second in the women's individual kata competition in karate yesterday to give her country a silver medal while three bronzes were won at the karate event and another in the archery.
Losing to a much stronger Japanese opponent, Huang finished second in the women's individual kata competition after being defeated 5-0 by Rika Usami in the gold medal match.
However, the silver medal finish was a personal best for Huang and a record for her team in the competition. The medal is the first the national squad won in the karate event in the Guangzhou games.
“I am extremely satisfied to be able to advance to the top three because I was facing a very competitive rival,” said Huang after the match.
“Huang was doing very well in the first three matches. It was a pity that she did not perform well enough to claim the gold,” said Huang's coach Huang Chih-yung.
The 24-year-old athlete started to practice karate at the age of three because her father was a karate coach. Huang said she picked up karate as a form of exercise and she wasn't sure if she will continue to engage in the sport in the future.
Meanwhile, Huang's teammate Chen Yen-hui and Hsieh Chen-kang both won bronze medals in the women's 50 kg and men's 55 kg, respectively.
At the roller sports event yesterday, female roller skater Pan Yi-chin added another bronze medal in the event's women's inline skating category. Pan finished third in the 10,000 meter points plus elimination event with a time of 16:36.83 and 17 points.
She finished with a faster time than silver medalist Guo Dan of China, but ended up with a bronze medal after accumulating fewer points, given to racers for finishing specified laps in leading positions.
The 30-year-old Pan previously said the Asian Games will be the last stop of her athletic career as she would retire after the Guangzhou games. “Now I just want to have a good night's sleep and take a long rest,” said Pan after taking the medal.
Pan expressed gratitude to her 16-year-old teammate Fan Chih-ling who covered her and blocked their foreign rivals during the match, which was the major reason why she could take a medal.
Meanwhile, 20-year-old first-time national team archer Sung Chia-chun surprisingly won the bronze in men's individual with a score of 1324. This was the only medal Taiwan's archery team won at the Games.