Team Taiwan aiming for its best-ever performance

Team Taiwan will raise its flag at a ceremony at the Olympic village today in a symbolic start to its 14-day campaign.

The team aims to win the nation's first-ever gold medal and capture a total of six medals to beat its previous best.

"Our athletes are more skilled and stand a better chance than ever before. We aim to take one gold medal, two silvers and three bronze," said Chen Chuan-show (陳全壽), chairman of the National Council of Physical Fitness and Sports. "Wang Shi-yuan (王信淵), our weightlifting contender, will probably win the first medal on Aug. 15 [Sunday]."

The team boasts 88 athletes competing in 14 events. Team Taiwan is expecting strong medal chances in six of those events, especially taekwondo, a defensive martial art in which Taiwan has traditionally performed strongly and has the strongest chance for gold. Table tennis and baseball are also seen as strong medal possibilities.

Taiwanese hopes are also high for the events of shooting, archery and weightlifting.

Baseball

There is a feeling of anticipation in the push for a baseball medal. In Barcelona in 1992, Team Taiwan's baseball squad won silver. Twelve years later, Taiwan beat South Korea at the Asian Championship to secure a berth in Athens. The whole country was energized by the achievement and sports fans looked to their idols to set another milestone.

The team fell short of expectations, however, during subsequent friendly games against Cuba, Italy, Canada and the Netherlands in Nettuno, near Rome.

A feisty Dutch performance against the Taiwanese resulted in a 5-0 loss that was especially disappointing to sports commentators and heartbreaking for loyal fans.

The team's ability to beat major opponents seemed to be in a drastic decline.

"The major foes Team Taiwan faces are Cuba and Japan. Yet current performances show that Canada and Australia are also standing in our way. Their performances have exceeded our expectations," said Kao Ying-chieh (高英傑), chairman of the Department of Sports Science at Taipei Physical Education College. "The coaching staff must carefully redeploy our players, and use our top players in battle with Canada and Australia. This will help secure our place in the top four of the preliminaries."

Kao, who is also a former pitcher of the national team and player in the Japanese Professional League, stressed that several athletes who had played in professional leagues in the US and Japan would play a key role in the Olympic campaign.

Chang Chih-jia (張誌家), who played in Japan, and Wang Jien-ming (王建民) and Tsao Chin-hui (曹錦輝), who pursued their careers in the US, are among them. If the three perform well, Taiwan is likely to make it to the top four. If Chen Chin-feng (陳金鋒) of the Los Angeles Dodgers recovers from his slump in time, Taiwan should enter the top three.

While the chances of victory against Japan are slim, Taiwan stands to fare better in a showdown with Cuba.

Shooting

Meanwhile, 23-year-old shooter Lin I-chun (林怡君), who is competing in the double-trap event, is also in the limelight. Winner of the gold medal at the 2002 world championships, Lin was then honored as athlete of the year.

"Lin is a genius. She became an important factor in cultivating talent and is the pride of the nation," said Lin's coach, Tseng Chao-hsiung (曾兆雄).

"Yet her physical and psychological condition has been troubled for two years now. She has been carrying the heavy burden of public expectation on her shoulders for a long time. Our government even hired some counselors to help her to learn to live with the crushing pressure."