Macao martial artist Huang Yanhui took the first gold medal of
the 4th East Asian Games at the women 's Nanquan on Sunday
morning.
"I'm very happy. The first gold is the best thing for the host,
" said the 24-year-old, who moved to Macao three years ago from
southeast China's Fujian province.
Huang posted a winning score of 9.75 points through her perfect
display of Nanquan, or South China fist fighting. Japanese Erika
Kojima came second with 9.62, followed by Chinese Taipei's Chen
Shaochi with 9.40.
Huang, Asian champion last year, has focused on the East Asian
Games since July and was regarded as one of the most hopeful in
Macao's 253-strong team.
"I was feeling under a bit of pressure before the Games. But I
was able to perform well because of my persistence and strong self-
belief," she said.
Zeng Tieming, Huang's coach, said that Huang had doubled her
training time during the past several months. "She has been working
hard and set high targets."
"It isn't a surprise for her to take the gold as she has talent
and hunger," he said.
Macao sports official Pun Wenkun said Huang's gold medal means a
lot.
"Wushu is very important for Macao as it is one of the few
sports that Macao can take medals in international events," he
said.
"The Macao government has decided to give priorities to the
development of wushu, karate and swimming," he said, adding Huang'
s victory would help spread martial arts in Macao's 460,000
citizens.
Pun said the government would award every gold medalist 120,000
patacao (US$15,000).
(Xinhua News Agency October 30, 2005)