Bangkok, Aug. 8 (CNA) Taiwan won a bronze medal in the girls 12-13 age group, 48 kilogram division, at the 2017 International Federation of Muaythai Amateur (IFMA) Youth Championships held from Aug. 3-11 in the National Stadium of Thailand in Bangkok.
Yeh Fei from Taiwan lost to Patranit Ranasimaratgapha from Thailand on Sunday, taking third place in the division.
The bronze medal was the first won by Taiwan since winning two golds and two 2 bronzes at the 2014 IFMA Youth Championships.
The Taiwanese athletes who took part in this year's championship were not as experienced as other competitors because the island lacks opportunities to compete, said Yeh's coach Yeh Chun-i.
However, he was optimistic that seeing first hand the standards of other countries would provide local athletes with greater motivation when training.
The annual IFMA Youth Championships is the top muaythai competition for athletes under 18 years of age, and up to 1,100 athletes and team members from 79 countries participated in this year's event.