Taiwan’s Chuang Chih-yuan (莊智淵) was defeated by China’s Wang Hao (王皓) 4-1 in the semi-finals of the men’s singles table tennis at the Olympic Games yesterday.
Chuang, who was set to compete for the bronze medal later in the day, lost to second-seeded Wang 11-13, 11-2, 12-10, 11-6, 11-9 in a match that lasted 39 minutes.
Chuang reached the quarter-finals of the men’s singles at the Athens Games in 2004 before falling to Wang 4-2. He then suffered a surprise defeat in the round-of-32 in Beijing.
Photo: AFP
If the 31-year-old fifth seed defeats eighth seed Dimitrij Ovtcharov of Germany in the bronze medal match, he would become the first Taiwan-born table tennis player, male or female, to clinch an Olympic medal.
China-born Chen Jing won a silver medal representing Taiwan in the women’s singles in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1996 and a bronze in Sydney in 2000.
Defending world champion Zhang Jike (張繼科) of China defeated Ovtcharov 4-1 in the other semi-final.
“I promise we will put on the best match ever,” Zhang said after winning his semi-final.
Zhang spoke before Wang even played, predicting another match against his No. 1 rival. That is the kind of confidence the Chinese players have — Zhang in particular. He has been talking up his chances for gold from the first day.
“Before it even began, I told myself I would win,” he said.
Zhang is the rising star — 24, and the new face of the men’s game. He defeated Wang a year ago in the final of the world championships and has beaten him in their past four matches.
Wang is 28 and trying to break through after losing the last two Olympic singles finals — in 2004 to South Korea’s Ryu Seung-min and in Beijing in 2008 to fellow Chinese Ma Lin (馬琳).
“I want that gold medal very much,” Wang said. “The silver medals are in the past.”
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique