Home representation didn’t last long on the first day of the World Games squash competition at Kaohsiung’s Martial Arts Stadium yesterday.
In the women’s tournament, No. 2 seed Natalie Grinham of the Netherlands thrashed Taiwan’s Pan Kuei-yeh 11-1, 11-1, 11-1 in their first round encounter.
In the men’s competition later in the day, Huang Cheng-yao also lost in three sets against James Willstrop of the UK. But at least Huang put up more resistance than Pan, engaging the No. 2 seed in a series of exciting rallies that got the crowd behind him.
PHOTO: CHANG CHUNG-I, TAIPEI TIMES
Huang fought hard early on in the first set before losing 11-4 before taking five points in losing the second set. Huang briefly led in the third before Willstrop’s class began to tell, with the Briton eventually wrapping up the set 11-7 to take the match.
In the final day of the air sports, Taiwan’s sole competitor, paratrooper Pan I-lung, finished last in the accuracy landing final.
Pan scored 12cm, 3cm, 10cm, 4cm, 2cm and 11cm in his six jumps at the Metropolitan Park for a cumulative total of 42cm, way behind gold medal winner German Stefan Weisner’s winning total of 9cm.
In the other disciplines, Canada’s Jason Moledzki took gold in the canopy piloting, while the US won in the canopy formation. The US also won gold in the formation skydiving while France secured first place in the freeflying.
Meanwhile, in the Frisbee, a large crowd of cheering fans at the Main Stadium couldn’t prevent Taiwan from falling to an embarrassing 13-0 defeat at the hands of the UK in their final preliminary match.
Taiwan had a chance for revenge in the afternoon when they faced the same opponents in the fifth-sixth place play off, but slipped to another defeat. The 13-6 loss made it six defeats in six matches and a last place finish.
PHOTO : AFP
Ranked 18th in the world in Ultimate Frisbee, Taiwan were always going to struggle against the top five nations in the world, but coach Lin Ming-tsong was happy with the team’s efforts, saying that their performances in the first four matches were pretty good and that the team members had given it their best shot.
The US went on to take the gold medal after beating Japan 13-6 in the final, while Australia beat Canada 13-8 to claim bronze.
World Games 2009 Kaohsiung Organizing Committee (KOC) managing director Liu Shyh-fang said ticket sales, which were rather slack before the Games began, have picked up since the spectacular opening ceremony was broadcast. Some events have seen long lines of people waiting to buy tickets.
Tickets for Sunday’s closing ceremony were sold out last week. In response to strong demand, the KOC is making 1,000 additional tickets for the closing ceremony available through the iBon booking system starting today. Booking terminals can be found at 7-Eleven convenience stores nationwide.
KOC Culture and Tourism Department CEO Lai Jui-lung (賴瑞隆) said extra seats would be made available by rearranging equipment to be used during performances.
Ticket sales for the opening and closing ceremonies, including the 1,000 newly available tickets, will add up to 31,500 altogether.
The closing ceremony will be held in a carnival atmosphere, with live performances from veteran rockers Wu Bai (伍佰), Bobby Chen (陳昇) and other stars.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
NO HARD FEELINGS: Taiwan’s Lin Hsiang-ti and Indonesia’s Dhinda Amartya Pratiwi embraced after fighting to a tense and rare 30-29 final game in their Uber Cup match The Taiwanese men’s team on Wednesday fought back from the brink of elimination to defeat Denmark in Group C and advance to the quarter-finals of the Thomas Cup, while the women’s team were to face South Korea after press time last night in the Uber Cup quarter-finals in Horsens, Denmark. In the first match, Taiwan’s top shuttler Chou Tien-chen faced a familiar opponent in world No. 3 Anders Antonsen. It was their 16th head-to-head matchup, with the Dane taking his fourth victory in a row against former world No. 2 Chou, winning 21-14, 13-21, 21-15 in 1 hour, 22 minutes. The
Marta Kostyuk’s maiden WTA 1000 title in Madrid came on Saturday thanks to her power, poise and a pair of unexpected lucky shorts. The world No. 23 beat eighth-ranked Mirra Andreeva 6-3, 7-5 in under 90 minutes to secure the most prestigious trophy of her career, her third professional singles title and second in less than a month after Rouen. Yet as the 23-year-old Ukrainian posed for photographs at the Caja Magica, it was not just the silverware that caught the eye. Held alongside her team and her two dogs, Kostyuk showed off a piece of black men’s underwear, prompting
Tennis players are facing an unexpected opponent at the Madrid Open. A stomach virus or food poisoning has affected Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Marin Cilic and others, raising concerns. World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka avoided an upset by Naomi Osaka on the court on Monday and said she is trying to avoid illness by sticking to a diet of chicken breasts, rice and salad. The rumor among the players was bad shrimp tacos were to blame. Sabalenka knocked on wood for luck and said, “So far, so good. I heard that I have to avoid those tacos,” she laughed, adding “I stick to the
Throwing more than US$5 billion at a divisive new tour and walking away after five seasons does not look like good business, but LIV Golf was not all bad news for Saudi Arabia. Oil-funded LIV, which poached top stars and sent golf’s establishment into a tailspin, helped push the conservative kingdom into global view — one of its key aims, experts said. The exit, confirmed on Thursday after weeks of speculation, does not signal a flight of Saudi money from sport, even after the Middle East war that sparked Iranian attacks around the Gulf, they said. “Saudi Arabia is not
RSS