Olympic champion Chen Zhong clinched the third gold medal for China in the
women's over 72kg taekwondo competition as she beat Evgeniya Karimova of
Uzbekistan 4-0 at theAsian Games here on Sunday.
The 24-year-old Chen, who suffered knee injury and took the operation last
year, showed no hesitation in the final as she attacked more actively than her
rival.
Chen and the 17-year-old Karimova attempted to defend from eachother and
neither of them got scores in the first two sets.
Chen, the gold medal winner in the Athens and Sydney Olympics in the over
67kg, kicked Karimova's head in the third set to take the lead 2-0.
Karimova tried to reply later but could not find any opportunities to
challenge Chen. Chen continued to kick effectively and won two scores in a row
to finish her tour in Dohawith her first gold at the Asiad.
"I think my performance today is perfect, and I am so excited to win my first
Asian Games gold medal. It is also very important for me," Chen said after the
competition.
"I made good use of my advantage in tactics and strategy. That's why I could
win," she added.
"I am only 17 years old and this silver made me more determinedto win more
medals in the future," Karimova said.
"Though Chen is an Olympic champion, I was not scared of her atall in the
final," she added.
Though capping the Olympic gold in the pocket, Chen took the bronze medal in
the 1998 Bangkok Asiad and the silver in the 2002 Busan Asiad.
The bronze medals on Sunday went to Afsaneh Sheikhi of Iran andAmalia
Kurniasih Palupi of Indonesia.