Feng Xiao : Opportunities are for those who are prepared
This April, Macau Taekwondo Association selected 16 players to attend the 22nd Asia Taekwondo Championships and the 4th Asia Taekwondo Poomsae Championships, at which Feng Xiao, a player from Macao, China, won the silver medal for women’s 62kg in the final with her outstanding performance. Feng Xiao remembered the competition well, “I met with a player from Thailand in the first round. Before I competed with her, I observed her competition with an Indian player and found that they receivedmany of their scores by higher section punch, but were not good at onslaught of the abdomen. So in the first two rounds, I mainly probed rather than attacked; and when I understood and disrupted her advantage in the third round, I began to attack, and ended up winning with 2:0 by attacking the opponent’s body trunk.”
Winning the silver medal
In the second competition, Feng Xiao met with a player from South Korea, who defeated another Chinese opponent and entered the semi-final. Before their competition, Feng Xiao also noted her and knew her advantage. She said, “My strategy was to interrupt the opponent’s attack, block her score points and then seek chances of attack. At the beginning, I was beaten at the head and behind by three points. Then I received one point by a counter attack and continued to beat her at the head, which enabled me to overtake her by 4:3. But then she got a chance to even up the score. Into the overtime, I finally survived a score to make it safely through to the next stage. In the final, I competed with Lam I Cheng, who was from Chinese Taipei. Her way of playing was like mine. In the first round, we both were feeling each other out and no one scored. In the second round, I lost one score in the middle section; in the last round, I got a little anxious and when I hurried to score, she grabbed my flaw and scored three points in a row. Besides, I was warned twice and lost another score. At this time, she already had 5 scores. Although she was also warned two times and lost one score as a result, she stilled won by 5:1.”
Lack of clear understanding
Feng thought she had been able to be herself in the competition and had not made any mistake. She won the former two competitions by a good mind, while lost the final for a bad one, “Lam and I used similar strategies. We both liked to interrupt the other’s strategy and tried not to rush. But she was much stronger and calmer than me. When no one scored, we were close. But when I lost one score, I became anxious and in the last two minutes, hurried to chase points when I had not thought clearly. So she grabbed my flaw and scored many points.” Feng seldom met players like Lam. Through this competition, she has realized her shortcomings and intended to have more targeted training. According to her, she would continue to try to stay calm in future competitions and would not hurry to chase points when she was not ready. “Opportunities are always for those who are prepared. After this competition, I will better prepare myself.”
Contribute everything
Speaking of her future development, Feng Xiao said that she would contribute everything to taekwondo and make efforts to promote the development of taekwondo in Macao. “It is well-known that the life of an athlete is short. After retirement, I would continue to work in fields related with taekwondo, such as being a coach. I hope to make my own efforts for the development of taekwondo in Macao so that more people would sense the charm of this sport!”
