Lin wins second straight boxing gold at Asiad

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Taiwanese Olympic champion Lin Yu-ting (林郁婷) yesterday won her second consecutive Asian Games boxing gold, defeating her Chinese opponent in the women’s 60kg final.

Lin beat Yang Chengyu (楊成宇) by a unanimous 5-0 decision at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, adding the 60kg title to her 57kg gold from Hangzhou, China, in 2023.

“In this competition, I’m like a newborn calf ... or a little white rabbit that has wandered into a great forest,” Lin said.

Gold medalist Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan celebrates on the podium after the women’s 60kg boxing event during the Asian Games at Nishio Gymnasium in Nishio, Japan, yesterday.

Photo: Mohd Rasfan, AFP

“None of my opponents was ordinary. Every one of them was incredibly strong and powerful,” she said.

“I don’t think there was a single one of my four bouts where I didn’t end up on the ground at some point. That shows just how difficult this competition was,” she added.

Yang said she struggled to cope with the taller Lin’s style.

Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting, in red, punches China’s Yang Chengyu in the women’s 60kg gold medal boxing bout during the Asian Games at Nishio Gymnasium in Nishio, Japan, yesterday.

Photo: CNA

“She is really tall and, in training, we don’t often face someone of that height, so that distance can feel unfamiliar,” she said.

The victory gave Taiwan its fourth gold of this year’s Asian Games and was Lin’s first international title since moving up to the 60kg weight class following her gold-medal triumph at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Lin had taken bronze at April’s Asian Boxing Elite Boxing Championships in Ulan Batar, Mongolia, before winning silver at the World Boxing Cup in Guiyang, China, in June.

Taiwan’s Hung Jiun-yi, left, in action during the men’s under-80kg semi-final against Kazakhstan’s Batyrkhan Toleugali at the Asian Games in Japan yesterday.

Photo: Andy Chua, Reuters

In the event in Guiyang, Lin defeated former world champion Yang by a 4-1 split decision in the semifinals to reach her first World Boxing Cup final in the heavier division.

In the final, Lin was edged by Viktoriya Grafeyeva of Kazakhstan 3-2, but she avenged that defeat in the first round of the Asian Games competition with a 3-2 victory over the Kazakh boxer.

Lin said before the Asian Games that she had considered retiring after winning gold at the Paris Olympics, but wanted to carry on fighting in part to defy those who questioned her eligibility following a gender row that involved US President Donald Trump, Elon Musk and author J.K. Rowling.

Gold medalist Parveen Hooda of India, second left, flanked by silver medalist Chen Nien-chin of Taiwan, left, and bronze medalists Hwang Hyo Sun of North Korea, right, and Li Shu of China, second right, are pictured during the medal ceremony for the women’s 65kg boxing event at the Asian Games in Nishio, Japan, yesterday.

Photo: AP

She said after her victory in Nagoya that she had been “waiting for that moment when the light breaks through.”

“It was really not easy at all,” she said.

“It’s rare to finally reach that point where you see the dawn, and I’m just so grateful to myself for making it through,” she added.

South Korea and Taiwan compete in the League of Legends e-sports finals at the Aichi Sky Expo at the Asian Games in Tokoname, Japan, yesterday.

Photo: AFP

Winning at the Asian Games was different from her Olympic victory, Lin said, adding that its “significance is monumental.”

“I basically just felt like packing up my things and rushing back home — that was the kind of mindset I had,” she said of her previous experience.

“I didn’t hold on to any hope anymore. I am so grateful to the coach for always believing in me and always believing that good things would happen,” she said.

Lin was backed by a small pocket of vocal Taiwanese supporters in the cozy Nishio Gymnasium.

Lin declined confirming whether she planned to defend her Olympic title at the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

“I believe that in the future, we can also put on an even better performance, persevere all the way and laugh until the end,” she said.

Elsewhere at the Asian Games yesterday, Hung Jiun-yi (洪俊義) faced Uzbekistan’s Jasurbek Jaysunov in the men’s under-80kg gold medal taekwondo contest to come away with a silver medal for Taiwan. Hung lost 1-2 in rounds.

In e-sports, Taiwan also snagged a silver medal in the League of Legends final against South Korea, who won the gold medal.

In the men’s team recurve archery bronze-medal match, Taiwan beat Iran 6-2 to take the bronze medal.

Boxer Chen Nien-chin (陳念琴) won a silver medal in the women's 65-kilogram division and canoeist Chang Chu-han (張筑涵) also won a silver medal in the women's kayak cross.

In e-sports, Taiwan also snagged a silver medal in the League of Legends final against South Korea, who won the gold medal.

Among the three bronze medals, taekwondo athlete Wang Wei-chia (王薇嘉) lost to Iranian Saghar Moradi 3-14, 5-7, while tennis players Hsieh Su-wei (謝淑薇) and Tseng Chun-hsin (曾俊欣) were defeated by Japanese duo Ena Shibahara and Jay Friend in the mixed doubles.

The third bronze went to the men's recurve team with Tang Chih-chun (湯智鈞), Cheng Hsiang-hui (鄭祥輝) and Lin Zih-siang (林子翔) defeating Iran 6-2 in the bronze medal match.