Taiwan's men archery team won the silver medal yesterday after being defeated by South Korea by seven points, 244-251, in the finals of the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.
Earlier in the day the team had beaten the US 244-243 to advance to the finals.
PHOTO: AP
The baseball team, however, had little to feel happy about after losing to Japan 4-3 in overtime.
But it was a very different story at the Panathinaiko Stadium, the home of the first modern Games in 1896 and the venue for archery at this year's Olympics.
"We are in excellent condition, and our archers just act consistently according to the tempo set during their practices, and ignore other external factors, even our opponents," said archery team coach Lin Cheng-hsien (林政賢).
To stabilize the athletes' mindset and avoid last-minute collapses, Lin repeatedly reminded his archers to "trust your-self, believe in yourself."
The three young archers, 23-year-old Chen Szu-yuan (陳詩園), 19-year-old Liu Ming-huang (劉明煌) and 17-year-old Wang Cheng-pang (王正邦), did not perform well at the beginning of the match, but suc-ceeded in dealing with the pressure and reviving their fighting spirit.
The crucial point in the competition was in the third round, when the US fell three points behind the Taiwan team. Wang and Liu secured an unassailable lead by scoring 28 points with their last three shots.
Meanwhile, the baseball team played a good game against Japan's professional all-stars, which has been described as the strongest team among the eight teams in competition.
Both Taiwan's starting pitcher Wang Chien-ming (王建民), who plays on the Yankee's triple A team, and Japanese starter Koji Uehara, who plays for the Tokyo Giants, suppressed batters in the first two innings.
In the third inning, Chen Chin-feng (
Both teams were runless for the next three innings.
Wang gave up four hits in the seventh, including Yoshinobu Takahashi's two-run homer which tied the game. Tsao Chin-hui (曹錦輝), who plays in Colorado Rockies, then replaced Wang on the pitcher's mound and struck out Norihiro Nakamura to end the inning.
Neither team was able to score in the eighth and ninth innings and the game went into overtime.
In the top of the tenth, Cheng Chang-ming (鄭昌明) hit a single off of Japan's closer Hiroki Kuroda and advanced to second base on Chen Chih-yuan's (陳致遠) sacrifice bunt.
But Taiwan failed to capitalize and the inning ended when Peng Cheng-min (彭政閩) struckout.
In the bottom of tenth, Japan got the bases loaded with just one out, and Michihiro Ogasawara hit a flyball to deep left field off closer Yang Chien-fu (
"The whole team performed their best," said head coach Hsu Sheng-min (
With two wins and four losses, Taiwan's only hope of making it into the semifinals is if it beats the Netherlands today and Australia loses its two last games.
Also See Stories:
Pinsent and crew take rowing honors
Tennis medal hopefuls fight today
Japan celebrates record Judo gold medal haul: 8
Doping spoils the Olympic party for Greece and Russia
KEY INDUSTRY: The vice premier discussed a plan to create a non-red drone supply chain by next year, which has been allocated a budget of more than NT$7.2 billion The government has budgeted NT$44.2 billion (US$1.38 billion) to cultivate Taiwan’s uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) industry over the next five years, which would make the nation a major player in the industry’s democratic supply chain in the Asia-Pacific region, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. Cho made the remarks during a visit to the facilities of Cub Elecparts Inc (為升電裝). Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Su-yueh (陳素月) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hsieh Yi-fong (謝依鳳) also participated in the trip. Cub Elecparts has transitioned from the automotive industry to the defense industry, which is the top priority among the nation’s
SOUTH KOREA DISPUTE: If Seoul continues to ignore its request, Taiwan would change South Korea’s designation on its arrival cards, the foreign ministry said If South Korea does not reply appropriately to a request to correct Taiwan’s name on its e-Arrival card system before March 31, the government would take corresponding measures to change how South Korea is labeled on the online Taiwan Arrival Card system, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. South Korea’s e-Arrival card system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in the “point of departure” and “next destination” fields. Taipei has asked Seoul to change the wording. Since March 1, South Koreans who hold government-issued Alien Resident Certificates (ARC) have been identified as from “South Korea” rather than the “Republic of Korea,” the
SUFFICIENT: The president said Taiwan has enough oil for next month, with reserves covering more than 100 days and natural gas enough for 12 to 14 days A restart plan for the Guosheng Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Wanli District (萬里) and the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County’s Hengchun Township (恆春) would be submitted to the Nuclear Safety Commission by the end of the month, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, reversing the government’s policy to abolish nuclear energy. On May 17 last year, Taiwan shut down its last nuclear reactor and became the first non-nuclear nation in East Asia, fulfilling the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government’s pledge of a “nuclear-free homeland.” Even without nuclear power, Taiwan can maintain a stable electricity supply until 2032,
DEROGATORY: WTO host Cameroon’s designation of Taiwan as a ‘province of China’ seriously undermines the nation’s status and rights as a WTO member, MOFA said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday condemned Cameroon for listing Taiwan as “Taiwan, Province of China” in visa documents for an upcoming WTO ministerial conference, a move that led to Taiwan’s withdrawal from the event. The designation “seriously undermined” Taiwan’s status and rights as a WTO member, the ministry said in a statement. It is the first time since 2001 that Taiwan has declined to attend a WTO Ministerial Conference. The conference is scheduled to take place from Thursday to Sunday next week in Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon. Taiwan had planned to send a delegation led by Minister Without Portfolio
RSS