Asian Games gold medalist Ku Tsui-ping on Wednesday settled for silver at the Asian Karate Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan, after falling to Hoang Thi My Tam of Vietnam.
Ku, 26, lost 2-7 at the hands of 18-year-old Hoang in the under-55kg weight class of the senior women’s kumite final.
It was their first appearance in an Asian Karate Championship senior final.
Photo courtesy of Teng Shih-yu via CNA
In the senior category, Taiwan’s Gu Shiau-shuang and Wu Chun-wei won bronze medals in the women’s kumite under-50kg and men’s under-84kg events respectively, while under-21 competitor Tong Yu-cheng won bronze in the under-75kg men’s kumite.
After Wednesday’s showdown, Ku’s coach, Teng Shih-yu, said that despite Hoang opening the scoring early in the final, the Taiwanese karateka was able to bounce back and briefly take the lead.
“It was a pity that in the wave of offensive maneuvers that followed, Ku took a kick to the head and her opponent took the lead,” Teng said.
Hoang was able to find opportunities to counterattack that eventually won her the match, as Ku tried in vain to restore her lead, Teng said.
The championship is Ku’s third international event since rupturing an Achilles tendon during training at the end of 2019.
Teng said it could not have been easy to produce such a stellar performance after coming back from a serious injury.
“She has actually done a good job, but I believe she will be better in the future,” Teng said.
Ku said that she had not left everything in the ring.
“I’m psyched up, not because I won a medal, but because I feel that I could have done better. Actually, I should say I can’t let it go,” Ku said.
Ku said she now has her eyes set on next year’s Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, adding that she would be ready.
“What I want is the gold medal,” Ku said.
Ku won gold in the women’s kumite under-50kg event at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, when she was 18.
After her injury in 2019, a doctor advised her to retire, but Ku instead focused on recovering and returning to the ring.
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