Li Mengyuan won the bronze in men's directional shooting at the Nagoya Asian Games, winning the first medal in team history.

Li Mengyuan. (Provided by the Chinese Olympic Games)

[Special Correspondent Wu Mengru/Nagoya Report] After last year's severe low point, Taiwanese player Li Mengyuan scored 29 points in the men's directional shooting final of the Nagoya Asian Games yesterday. When he was sure to win the bronze medal, he also pointed his finger to the sky to tell his late father, Hsieh Chi-pei, to win the first Asian Games men's directional shooting medal in team history.

Li Mengyuan suffered the death of his father and coach Xie Zhipei last year, and then caused controversy due to the misuse of eye drops containing banned substances. He requested a suspension and was suspended for 5 months. He did not return until January this year. He admitted that the preparations along the way were indeed very hard and it took a long time to settle down. Because of the lack of resources and the recurrence of waist injuries, his condition was not very good.

In the past games, Li Mengyuan had his father by his side. This time, Li Mengyuan lost his most familiar companion and did not receive immediate feedback. He was not used to it, and he even felt like crying during the game.

Since points were deducted for being late in the finals of the last Asian Games in Hangzhou and he ended up in fifth place, Li Mengyuan was determined to avenge his shame this time. He advanced to the finals in second place in the qualifying rounds and successfully entered the medal battle among the last three. Unfortunately, he missed the last serve and missed the chance to compete for gold. He said, "It's really a pity, but I haven't stood on the podium for a long time. It can be said that my hard work has paid off, and it is also the motivation for the competition. I will continue to work hard in the future."