Taiwan finished the last day of competition at the World Games yesterday with a flourish, winning both the men’s and women’s tchoukball competitions and grabbing three silvers and a bronze.
The medals took Taiwan’s total medal haul to 24, seventh place overall in the final table.
The men’s and women’s tchoukball teams beat No. 1 ranked Switzerland in both finals.
PHOTO: SAM YEH, AFP
As in Friday’s round-robin match, the men dominated the Swiss from the off, leading 22-13 after the first 15-minute period on the strength of their more accurate shooting and better defensive catching. They powered to a 42-27 lead in the second period, before wrapping up a 67-39 win with a strong final third.
No. 9 Lee Chih-hui was the star, scoring 16 points, with Chang Wei-chun adding another 10.
The women, meanwhile, were not so dominant, eking out a 16-13 lead in the first period and gradually stretching their lead to end up 50-37 winners. The Swiss women didn’t help their cause by constantly complaining about the officiating.
As tchoukball is an invitational sport at these Games, the medals did not count toward the official medal total.
Meanwhile, Taiwan’s quest for a nine-ball pool gold ended in disappointment as Kaohsiung native Yang Ching-shun tasted defeat in the men’s final.
Yang had to be content with the silver medal after being outplayed by “The Kaiser,” Ralf Souquet of Germany, who triumphed 11-4.
PHOTO: CHANG CHUNG-YI, TAIPEI TIMES
Also winning silver were Chen Yen-hui, who lost 4-2 to Croatia’s Jelena Kovacevic in the final of the women’s karate kumite under 53kg. Compatriot Hsia Wen-huang also took silver after being outfought in the men’s under 60kg gold medal match against Brazil’s Douglas Santos Broze.
Kuo Kung-chih later missed out on a bronze after defeat in the men’s kumite open weight division.
In other action yesterday, Chang Ya-wen secured third place in the women’s powerlifting super heavyweight division and a bronze medal after scoring a combined total of 548.8 points in the three disciplines. Iryna Yavorskakarpova took gold with a score of 581.25 points. Taiwan’s Hung Min-chu finished in ninth place with 476.26 points.
The women’s heavyweight division saw Tseng Wei-chung finish out of the medals in seventh position, while Hau Hsiao-li was disqualified.
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