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.
FRUSTRATION: Alcaraz made several unforced errors over four sets against Bosnian Damir Dzumhur, who had never made it past the third round in a major competition Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz reached the fourth round of the French Open after laboring past Damir Dzumhur 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in the Friday night session. The second-seeded Spaniard had never before played Dzumhur, a 33-year-old Bosnian who had never been past the third round at any major tournament. “I suffered quite a lot today,” Alcaraz said. “The first two sets was under control, then he started to play more deeply and more aggressively. It was really difficult for me.” Dzumhur hurt his left knee in a fall in the second round, and had treatment on Friday on his right leg during the
‘DREAM’: The 5-0 victory was PSG’s first Champions League title, and the biggest final win by any team in the 70-year history of the top-flight European competition Paris Saint-Germain won the Champions League for the first time as Luis Enrique’s brilliant young side outclassed Inter on Saturday in the most one-sided final ever with teenager Desire Doue scoring twice in an astonishing 5-0 victory. Doue supplied the pass for Achraf Hakimi to give PSG an early lead and the 19-year-old went from provider to finisher as his deflected shot doubled the advantage in the 20th minute. Doue scored again just after the hour mark, ending any doubt about the outcome before Khvicha Kvaratskhelia ran away to get the fourth and substitute Senny Mayulu, another teenager, made it five. Inter were
The Greek basketball league finals between Panathinaikos and Olympiakos were suspended by the government on Monday following on-court scuffles involving rival security teams. The best-of-five series is at 1-1. The third game, scheduled for today, has been postponed. The owners of both clubs were summoned to meet with the country’s sports minister. They “will be asked to provide explicit guarantees that this situation will be brought to an end. If not, this year’s championship will be definitively canceled,” government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said. “There can be no tolerance for such pathological phenomena of violence and delinquency.” In online posts, the owners of Panathinaikos and
The Edmonton Oilers on Thursday defeated the Dallas Stars 6-3 to book their place in the Stanley Cup Finals, setting up a repeat of last year’s NHL showpiece against reigning champions the Florida Panthers. The Oilers, bidding to become the first Canadian team to win the NHL’s championship series since the 1993 Montreal Canadiens, head to Florida for Game 1 of the best-of-seven series set for Wednesday. Florida, who are to play in the NHL showpiece for the third straight season, won last year’s title 4-3 to extend Canada’s decades-long Stanley Cup drought. Connor McDavid led Edmonton back to the championship series on