Go player Hsu Hao-hung reclaims HaiFong title in a sweep

Taipei, March 14 (CNA) Hangzhou Asian Games gold medalist Hsu Hao-hung (許皓鋐) reasserted himself as the champion of the HaiFong Tournament Thursday after Hsu Ching-en (徐靖恩) surrendered in their second game in the final series.

Hsu Hao-hung, who held six of the nine major domestic pro titles in 2023, won back the HaiFong title, his first in 2024, and avenged his quarterfinal loss to Hsu Ching-en in the last edition.

This is the fifth time the 22-year-old Hsu Hao-hung has come out top at the tournament, a new record in its 16-year history, putting him two titles ahead of Chen Shih-iuan (陳詩淵).

In the official interview after the game, however, Hsu Hao-hung attributed his latest championship to luck, saying he felt he didn't perform particularly well.

"For example, in the first match, I was behind mostly from the very beginning, and my opponent kept playing well even in the middle part of the game," the 9-dan pro said, suggesting Hsu Ching-en needed to work more on his endgame phase.

Hsu Hao-hung said he was happy he had won the title and that he will try his best at the Chunlan Cup World Professional Weiqi Championship in China this week.

The result saw Hsu Hao-hung bag NT$600,000 (US$19,041) in prize money, while NT$240,000 went to Hsu Ching-en, who has finished runner-up at the tournament two years in a row.

In the last edition, Hsu Ching-en was swept by Wang Yuan-jyun (王元均) in the final series.

Asked to comment on his performance, the 17-year-old pro Go player praised Hsu Hao-hung for remaining calm down the stretch, adding that he regretted playing too fast late in the first game when he should have taken his time to consider his moves.

"I made my moves too fast because I thought I had good intuition, but I ended up losing my tempo," said the 6-dan Hsu Ching-en, the reigning King of Newcomers and the Speed Go champion.

The young phenom could seek revenge on Mar. 18 at the Taiwan Meijin, where he is trailing 1-0 in the best-of-three semifinal series after losing Game 1 to Hsu Hao-hung Monday.