Wong Sok I, a Macao contestant in the women's 55-kg class karate free kumite event, achieved the best result that she has ever achieved in her career in the 18^th Asian Games. She was promoted successively after defeating the contestants among the16 best and the 8 best. Although she lost to the champion, Wen Tzu-yun from Chinese Taipei, in the semi-final, she won 3:2 against the Malaysian contestant Syakilla Salni, who was the champion of the 61-kg class, winning her first bronze medal in the Asian Games. 

Overcoming Difficulties in the Asian Games

Wong Sok I was challenged in a series of matches at this Asian Games. She proceeded to the semi-final, after defeating a strong opponent from Tadjikistan and the Philippines in the octo-final and the quarter final by 4:1 and 3:1 respectively. Afterwards, she competed against Wen Tzu-yun, who was highly expected to win the champion title. Wong Sok I, despite her intense resistance, lost 1:4 to her opponent as she failed to perform the last swing kick. In the match for the third place, she faced the Malaysian contestant Syakilla Salni, who had an advantage with her height, but Wong competed fearlessly, and kept the lead through the match. Finally, she won 3:2 and earned a bronze medal for Macao sports delegation. 

Achieving Good Results After Tough Training

Although she could not defeat Wen Tzu-yun in the semi-final and failed to get a higher ranking, she was satisfied with the swift adjustment she made in the match for the third place. She performed her best. She stated, “After the semi-final, I focused all my effort on preparing for the match for the third place. My opponent was the champion last year and she could stretch her arms longer than I do. My strategy was to make counterattack to win points. Eventually I succeeded.”

As she made great progress from a 9^th place position in the Incheon Asian Games to third place at the Jakarta Asian Games, Wong Sok I expressed her gratitude to the Sports Bureau and Macao Karate-do Assciation for training her all the way through. She attributed her success in winning a bronze to the group training in Iran before the Asian Games. Through the resistance practice conducted with male contestants from Iran, Wong Sok I got used to intense resistance and learned how to use more various strategies, so that she could perform smoothly in the arena.