Taiwan ended its trip to the Asian Games with a bang yesterday, as fans were treated to three gold medal competitions in the space of several hours. While not all the results panned out as hoped, it was nevertheless a strong finish for Taiwan, which stands a good chance of finishing in the top 10 in the medal standings after holding sixth place for much of the week.
After winning a tough match against the China team earlier in the day, the Taiwan softball team didn't seem to have much left for its gold medal match against Japan. Japan starter Yukiko Ueno had command of the game from the outset, pitching five perfect innings for the complete game win and sending down six of the first nine Taiwan batters that she faced via strikeouts.
Meanwhile, Taiwan starter Han Hsin-lin got hammered for four runs on six hits in 2.1 innings of work. Reliever Lai Sheng-jung didn't fare much better, surrendering four runs on two hits in just one inning in the eventual 0-7 loss.
However, it took a gritty performance from the softball team earlier in the day just to get to the gold medal game. Facing China in the semi-final match, the Taiwan team quickly found itself in a 0-4 hole after the first inning when starter Wu Chia-yen clearly didn't have her best stuff.
Her teammates helped her out in the top of the second, scoring three runs to cut China's lead to just one, thanks in part to a two-out, two-run home run by Lai Meng-ting, who went three-for-three with four RBI in the game.
China came back again with another four runs in the bottom of the third to extend its lead to 7-3, but that's all it would get, as reliever Lin Su-hua would take the win by quieting the China offense, allowing just one run over the last 2.2 innings for the win.
The Taiwan bats woke up in the top of the fourth to rally for four runs and even the score. Taiwan took its first lead in the top of the sixth with three runs off China reliever Li Qi, who took the loss. The 10-7 win not only earned Taiwan a trip to the gold medal match, but also got some payback for their 5-2 loss to China on Tuesday.
The women's tennis doubles pair of Chan Yung-jan and Chuang Chia-jung took the silver medal after losing their final match in two sets.
They went into the gold medal round as underdogs, facing this year's Wimbledon and Australian Open champions, China's Zheng Jie and Yan Zi.
Despite losing quickly in the first set 6-1, Chan and Chuang made a strong start in the second set, pulling ahead for an early 3-0 lead.
However, it got more difficult from there as the Chinese duo dug in to fight their way back to a 6-6 tie before finally taking the second set and the gold 7-6.
Despite the strong showing from Chang and Chuang, their medal marks the end of a disappointing showing for the tennis team, which had been expected to win several golds but finishes with only one.
The women's basketball team was also scheduled to play China late yesterday in its first ever trip to the finals at the Asian Games. It was expected to be a difficult match against the top-ranked and undefeated China squad, which impressively demolished the Lebanese team 106-30 last week.
With only three players on the China team under 1.83m in height, Taiwan head coach Hung Ling-yao knew beating them would be a tall order, but said the team was ready for the challenge and would go all out.
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