Singapore taekwondo exponent Darren Yap clinches historic Asian Games taekwondo bronze

Yap is the first Singaporean taekwondo exponent to win a Games medal.

Singapore's Darren Yap at the 20th Asian Games. (Photo: SNOC/Lim Weixiang)

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NAGOYA: He may have bagged Singapore's first taekwondo Asian Games medal, but 22-year-old Darren Yap never wanted to compete internationally when he first started in the combat sport.

"I never wanted to compete at this level," he told reporters on Thursday (Oct 1) after clinching bronze in the men's individual poomsae.

"But once I went for my first competition, I kind of caught the bug and I've always wanted to keep going and going. That pushed me to work very hard, and eventually I got selected to represent Singapore."

At the Toyohashi Gymnasium, Yap (9.0400) made history as he finished behind South Korea's Yun Kyu-sung (9.3800), Thailand's Navin Pinthasute (9.2800) and Philippines' Derick Yape (9.0900). Both the third and fourth-placed finishers are awarded joint-bronze.

CNA Games Guess Word Crack the word, one row at a time Buzzword Create words using the given letters Mini Sudoku Tiny puzzle, mighty brain teaser Mini Crossword Small grid, big challenge Word Search Spot as many words as you can Show More Show Less "I didn't really have any expectations because I always try to enter not expecting anything and trying to focus on the end result," said Yap, who was eliminated in the round of 16 at the last Games in Hangzhou. "More of enjoying the process and it led to a good place today."

"I didn't really have any expectations because I always try to enter not expecting anything and trying to focus on the end result," said Yap, who was eliminated in the round of 16 at the last Games in Hangzhou.

"More of enjoying the process and it led to a good place today."

For the Singaporean who is now competing at his fifth major Games, the medal felt like "a long time coming".

"I'm just a very competitive person. For me, it's very fun to be able to do what I love to do on a big stage," he added.

Yap qualified second in his semi-final and third overall for the final earlier in the day. The double SEA Games bronze medallist will next compete in the virtual taekwondo event on Friday.

"I'm just very very happy. Now when people see Singapore on their bout list, they'll maybe get worried," said Yap.

"I hope I'm able to inspire the new generation of players that want to train and be able to do what I do, or be even better than me."

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叶是第一位获得奥运会奖牌的新加坡跆拳道运动员。

新加坡选手达伦·叶在第20届亚运会上。（图片：新加坡奥委会/林伟祥）

这段音频是由人工智能工具生成的。

名古屋：22岁的达伦·叶（Darren Yap）虽然为新加坡赢得了首枚跆拳道亚运会奖牌，但他最初接触这项格斗运动时，从未想过要参加国际比赛。

“我从未想过要参加这种级别的比赛，”他在周四（10 月 1 日）获得男子个人品势铜牌后告诉记者。

“但自从我参加了第一次比赛后，我就迷上了这项运动，一直想继续下去。这促使我非常努力地训练，最终我被选中代表新加坡参赛。”

在丰桥体育馆，叶（9.0400）创造了历史，他位列韩国选手尹奎成（9.3800）、泰国选手纳文·平塔苏特（9.2800）和菲律宾选手德里克·亚佩（9.0900）之后。第三名和第四名并列获得铜牌。

CNA游戏 猜词游戏 逐行破解单词 流行词游戏 用给定的字母组成单词 迷你数独 小谜题，脑力挑战 迷你填字游戏 小方格，大挑战 单词搜索 尽可能多地找出单词 显示更多 显示更少 “我其实没有任何期望，因为我总是尽量不抱任何期望地参赛，而是专注于最终结果，”叶先生说道，他在上一届杭州运动会16强赛中被淘汰。“我更享受的是过程，而这最终带来了今天的好成绩。”

“我其实没有任何期望，因为我总是尽量不抱任何期望地参赛，而是专注于最终结果，”叶说。他在上一届杭州冬奥会的16强赛中被淘汰。

“更注重享受过程，而这最终带来了今天这样的好结果。”

对于这位已经参加过五届大赛的新加坡选手来说，这枚奖牌感觉是“来之不易”。

“我天生好胜心很强。对我来说，能够在大舞台上做自己喜欢的事情非常有趣，”他补充道。

叶在当天早些时候的半决赛中排名第二，总排名第三，成功晋级决赛。这位两届东南亚运动会铜牌得主接下来将于周五参加线上跆拳道比赛。

“我真的非常非常高兴。现在当人们看到新加坡出现在比赛名单上时，他们可能会感到担忧，”叶说。

“我希望我能够激励新一代球员，让他们努力训练，达到我这样的水平，甚至超越我。”

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