Shandong's ace taekwondist Zhao Lin overcame the first-round slump in the men's 80kg class final here on Friday and upset favorite Wang Hao of Zhejiang to gift the host their first gold of the four-day events at China's 11th National Games.
Wang, both a 10-time national champion and a coach now, seized the opening two points by two effective side kicks. Zhao responded well, turned to more aggressive in the following round and levelled the score to 2-2.
In the third round, Wang scored the decisive one point in the last 15 seconds but Zhao made a series of desperate kicks to tie the marks again.
The thrilling seesaw battle ended just ten seconds into the sudden death round. Inspired by the deafening cheers of home spectators, the vigorous Wang kicked effectively to outscore the opponent and gift the host Shandong the first gold of the taekwondo competitions slated from Sept. 9 to 12.
The bout ended, both fighters came to tears.
"Sorry to those who support me. It's a kind of feeling that I fell down to the hell from heaven in a sudden," the 30-year-old Wang choked in front of reporters.
As the national iconic taekwondist, Wang ended China's medal drought in men's competitions at Asian Games in Doha. "It's my last Games, my last show, it's bitter, regretful, but that's the reality," Wang added, with tears welling up in his bloodshot eyes.
The winner said he only won by the slim advantage. "From losing to winning, I was in calm mind and never gave up. Thank god, I'll remember this day in the rest of my life," Zhao said in joyous tears.
In the third-place playoffs, Hu Shuangjiang of Tianjin and Li Sheng of Liaoning outscored their respective opponents to wrap up the bronze.
In the earlier women's 67kg class final, Zhang Hua of Jiangsu beat Guangdong's Liu Huan 4-3 to clinch the gold. The bronze medal went to Lv Hui of Shanxi and Jiang Lingling of Qianwei sports association.
The 11th edition of the National Games, which are held every four years, is the country's top national-level sport gala. It will officially open in Shandong Province on Oct. 16.
Tengzhou is a county-level city southwest of Shandong, where China's old saint and great thinker Mo Zi and architect ancestor Lu Ban were both supposed to be born here.
Organizers said the taekwondo events had to be staged in advance in order to give way to the World Championships next month.
Source: Xinhua
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