Taiwan Team Wins Silver Medal at 2023 Belgian G2 Taekwondo Open
The 2023 Belgian G2 Taekwondo Open took place on March 18 and 19 in Lommel, a small city in the northeast of Belgium. Team Taiwan—comprising the athletes Lo Chia-Ling, Liang Hsing-Cheng, and Chuang Hsin-Hsuan together with their coaches—arrived in Belgium a week earlier to prepare for the competition. They were welcomed by Chen Yuwen, the director of the Education Division of the Taipei Representative Office in the EU and Belgium, and she joined other overseas Taiwanese to support the competitors from the first match until the last.
Lo Chia-Ling, a 21-year old student at National Taiwan Sport University, competed in the senior women’s 57kg category. During her athletic career so far, she won gold twice in the World Taekwondo Junior Championships—in 2016 and 2018—and she went on to win a bronze medal in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and a silver medal in the World Taekwondo Championship 2022. Chuang Hsin-Hsuan, also a student at National Taiwan Sport University, competed in the senior women’s 62kg category, and Liang Hsing-Cheng, a student at National Taiwan University of Sport, competed in the senior men’s 58kg category of the Belgian Open. They each faced strong competition at this important world ranking event All three athletes fought hard and were worthy opponents for some of the best fighters from Europe and around the world. They showcased Taiwan’s perseverance and strength in this international competition.
Lo Chia-Ling—who had won a bronze medal during the Dutch Open in the previous week—advanced to the final round after defeating fighters from Croatia, Germany, and the Netherlands, and Hatice Kubra from Turkey, the first seed of the tournament. Lo Chia-Ling won silver after losing the final match to Luana Marton from Hungary. Chuang Hsin-Hsuan and Liang Hsing-Cheng both fought hard but were eventually bested by the first and third seeds of the tournament respectively.
After a month of travel and participation in several international tournaments, the athletes enjoyed a celebratory lunch hosted by the Taipei Representative Office in the EU and Belgium on March 20, before their departure to return to Taiwan. They received well-deserved praise and well wishes from Representative Remus Li-Kuo Chen, Director Chen Yuwen, and other Taiwanese living overseas.
