Macao martial artist Huang Yanhui took the first gold medal of the 4th East Asian Games at the women 's Nanquan on Sunday morning.

"I'm very happy. The first gold is the best thing for the host, " said the 24-year-old, who moved to Macao three years ago from southeast China's Fujian province.

Huang posted a winning score of 9.75 points through her perfect display of Nanquan, or South China fist fighting. Japanese Erika Kojima came second with 9.62, followed by Chinese Taipei's Chen Shaochi with 9.40.

Huang, Asian champion last year, has focused on the East Asian Games since July and was regarded as one of the most hopeful in Macao's 253-strong team.

"I was feeling under a bit of pressure before the Games. But I was able to perform well because of my persistence and strong self- belief," she said.

Zeng Tieming, Huang's coach, said that Huang had doubled her training time during the past several months. "She has been working hard and set high targets."

"It isn't a surprise for her to take the gold as she has talent and hunger," he said.

Macao sports official Pun Wenkun said Huang's gold medal means a lot.

"Wushu is very important for Macao as it is one of the few sports that Macao can take medals in international events," he said.

"The Macao government has decided to give priorities to the development of wushu, karate and swimming," he said, adding Huang' s victory would help spread martial arts in Macao's 460,000 citizens.

Pun said the government would award every gold medalist 120,000 patacao (US$15,000).

(Xinhua News Agency October 30, 2005)