NAGOYA, Japan (Reuters): Taiwan boxer Lin Yu-ting won gold in the women's 60kg category at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Friday, two years after being embroiled in a gender-eligibility row at the Paris Olympics.
Lin and Algerian Imane Khelif both won gold in Paris amid a gender dispute over their eligibility. Lin was cleared to compete earlier this year after World Boxing completed a review of her sex-eligibility status.
Lin beat China's Yang Chengyu 5-0 at the Nishio Gymnasium to win her second Asian Games gold, using her reach to good effect and hitting on the counter to prevail.
"In this competition, I’m like a newborn calf...or a little white rabbit that has wandered into a great forest," said Lin, whose both Paris and Hangzhou titles came in the 57kg category.
"None of my opponents was ordinary. Every one of them was incredibly strong and powerful.
"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.”
Yang said she struggled to cope with the taller Lin's style.
"In the second round, I felt that I wasn’t really able to make much happen. Later on, I think I did an OK job but perhaps the judges didn’t really like that kind of style," she added.
"She is really tall and, in training, we don’t often face someone of that height so that distance can feel unfamiliar."
India's Lovlina Borgohain gave herself a birthday present by beating China's Bao Ziyi to win the women's 75kg gold.
"It’s very special. I think it’s the first time that I get a present for myself," said Borgohain, who turned 29 on Friday.
"This is my second Asian Games, and I had silver at the last Asian Games. So I was fully confident that I could get the gold medal."
(Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty in Nagoya; editing by Peter Rutherford) -- Reuters
