Bittersweet day for China as curtain falls on Taekwondo

‘Jiayou’ cheers were constant as the Chinese teams were introduced at the Wangjiang Campus Gymnasium during the last day of taekwondo at the Chengdu FISU World University Games.

However, the chants were put to a temporary halt as things did not go as the local crowd had hoped in the men’s team semi-finals against archrival South Korea.

The Koreans took an early lead, but the Chinese soon came from behind to take it right back. However, Korea had the last laugh overcoming its rival with a 47-45 win.

China’s Liang Yushuai admitted he was relatively new to the team event.

“I’m relatively lacking experience in this area. We followed the tactical changes arranged by the coach. Overall, I fought well but there are things I need to learn, and there’s a lot of room for improvement in the future,” said the Henan Normal University student.

“Liang Yushi and I were responsible for scoring offensively, while Meng Mingkuan and Cui Yang generally are the ones designated to increase the existing score,” Xiao Chenming explained after the loss.

The greatest regret for the team was not having won the gold in front its own fans. Now the hope is to bounce back at the upcoming Asian Games in September in Cambodia.

The women’s event delivered a big surprise in the semi-final as Uzbekistan defeated Korea – the silver medallists in 2019 – by a point, 34-33.

Uzbekistan’s astonishing run ended in the final much to the excitement of the local crowd. The Chinese women dominated the fight conquering the gold with a 56-24 win.

Nevertheless, the Uzbek coach Sabir Nazaraliev was pleased with his team’s performance.

“Our opponents were good and also very tall, which is very important in this sport. So, it was difficult for us to fight them. We will try to win next time.”

It did not feel as an easy win for the Chinese team, though.

“I was very nervous at the beginning. Although I lost points I believe I could come back”, said Zhou Zeqi, a student from the Beijing Sport University.

Zeqi’s teammate, Yang Junli, was ecstatic and she could knew the reason of their success.

“The four of us have a clear division of labour, combined with the coach’s tactics, willingness to fight, trust teammates and belief in ourselves.”

The Korean men beat Iran 52-40 in the last taekwondo final of the Chengdu FISU Games.

Written by Netra. V, FISU Young Reporter