Asian Games Rival Watch: Chinese Taipei Women’s Team

Chinese Taipei are a genuine contender for the Asian Games gold this time.

The Indian Women’s Team are to kick-start their 2023 Asian Games edition in the football category against the intimidating Chinese Taipei national team. They face a side that is renowned as one of the best in Asia and has been on the rise at the international stage over the last few years.

With just the group winner guaranteed a place in the knockout stages, this game between India U-23 and Chinese Taipei U-23 could be a potential decider for who goes onto the Round of 16. The Blue Tigresses, however, will face an intimidating challenge against a side bent on grabbing a medal in this category.

About the Team

The Blue Magpies have been prominently featured in the Asian Games over the past few decades and been a major threat to all the other sides in the women’s football category. The Chinese Taipei Women’s side grabbed the bronze medal in the football category back in the 1994 Asian Games, marking their best result so far.

They have, although, finished in fourth place on three separate occasions – including the 2018 Asian Games where they lost to South Korea in the third-place playoff. The Chinese Taipei women’s team is a three-time winner of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup, but have only qualified for the FIFA Women’s World Cup once in their history.

Recent Peformances

While Chinese Taipei’s U-23 Women’s team haven’t really gotten that much playing time in 2023, their senior women’s team have been quite successful in the year so far. They picked up huge wins over the likes of Lebanon, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea earlier this year in the international games.

The victories over the first two teams, which saw them score a combined goals of 9, was part of the 2024 Olympic Qualifiers in the AFC division. In their five matches played in 2023, Chinese Taipei’s side has only lost once – which was back in January in a friendly against Thailand.

The Coach

Chan Hiu-Ming was appointed as the head coach of the Chinese Taipei women’s team earlier this year in May, and is actually yet to take charge of any game for the senior team. He’s likely to make his debut in the coaching role at the Asian Games and prove his quality at the continental level.

The 48-year-old manager has nearly two decades of coaching experience in his arsenal, having also worked as the manager of the Hong Kong and Macau (men’s) national teams in the past. His recent-most venture was as the manager of the Hong Kong club Lee Man, spending five years with them.

Hiu-Ming was at the helm for 118 games for the Lee Man side, helping them win the 2018-19 Hong Kong Sapling Cup (in which former Mohun Bagan player Fran Gonzalez was the top scorer as well!). The Hong Kong-born manager gained a reputation for his exciting attacking style, often shaping his side in a 4-3-3 attacking formation. Notably, he helped them score 225 goals in his 118 matches in charge.

The 48-year-old now has a totally different challenge in managing a national team, but will look to further elevate the quality of the Chinese Taipei women’s side by making them play more ruthless and exciting attacking football.

Players to Watch

Su Yu-Hsuan

Taichung Blue Whale striker Su Yu-Hsuan has been a revelation for the Chinese Taipei women’s side and meets the criteria for the U-23 level at the Asian Games. She impressed at the 2022 AFC Asian Cup in India last year, scoring two goals and looking sharp in the attack. The 22-year-old has four goals in just eight appearances for the Chinese Taipei side and scored four goals in three appearances at the U-19 level too.

Su is a rapid, proactive figure in the final third who loves running forward with the ball and is very efficient with her finishing. She’ll look to sneak into the key areas in the final third and will act as a goal-scoring source for her side by finishing off chances clinically at the Asian Games.

Ting Chia-ying

Ting Chia-Ying has emerged as a hard-working, smart midfielder for Chinese Taipei and will be looking to make the most of her opportunities at the Asian Games. The 21-year-old midfielder is quite a multi-talented figure, being able to create chances from deep and also helping her side dominate the midfield line.

She is packed with energy and thrives in winning possession from the opposition players before looking to get things started in the build-up play with her style. The Taipei Bravo youngster should get decent chances to impress at the Asian Games and will look to make the most of it to strengthen her chances of featuring for the senior team.

What to Expect

The Chinese Taipei women’s side are definitely a major contender to bag a medal in the Women’s Football category. The Blue Magpies are known for their incisive, dangerous attaking style and are packed with unpredictable, clever attacking stars that can be a menace for any team.

They’ll definitely take the fight to any side they face at the Asian Games and retain their philosophy of ruthless, attacking football to carve down the opposition. Be it India or anyone else facing them, it’ll take something special to break down this Chinese Taipei side and eliminate them from the Asian Games.