Macau karate-do athlete Jugo Kuok Kin Hang has won the first bronze medal for Macau at the People’s Republic of China’s 14th National Games, taking place at the city of Xian in Shaanxi province.
Kuok won his medal in the men’s individual kata event and it is also the first-ever medal for Macau since the Special Administrative Region started participating in the National Games.
Kuok’s score of 25.02 placed him in third place with Hong Kong athlete Lau Chi Ming.
The competition was won by Mu Shike representing the Guangdong province, and Shaanxi’s Zheng Qianqu came in second.
After the podium ceremony, Kuok said, “I’m glad to take this honor. It’s a special moment for Macau sports. It means that Macau athletes can do something on this big stage.” “I kept pushing myself and didn’t eat too much yesterday. It’s my first time competing at the National Games, and I was hungry to win a medal for my team,” Kuok was quoted saying by Xinhua news agency, noting that he is very happy to participate in this competition after a long time without taking part in an event outside Macau borders due to Covid-19 pandemic.
Kuok was accompanied on the podium ceremony by the Macau team’s head coach Mohammad Reza Rashidnia. Rashidnia, an Iranian, has been leading local karate-do athletes to success since 2002.
The achievement has prompted an immediate reaction from Chief Executive (CE) Ho Iat Seng, who sent a a congratulatory message to the sports delegation.
In his message, the CE said that such an achievement is “creating a new page in history,” and extended his congratulations to all the other athletes representing Macau.
Previously, Kuok had won a gold medal at the 6th East Asian Games in 2013 in men’s individual kata and was also ranked fifth in the same sport in the same year, during the 18th Asian Games.
Since 2015, he started to dedicate himself to the sports professionally, being one of the athletes included in the first group of the government Financial Support Plan for Elite Athletes.
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