Taiwan's hopes for gold remain high

Although Taiwan may have lost an almost certain gold medal winner in weightlifter Chen Jui-lien (陳瑞蓮), who was banned for doping, hopes of a top Olympic finish are still alive.

"These eight are our best bets," said Dominik Wu, secretary of the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee, pointing to a list containing the names of 58 athletes -- 22 men and 36 women -- fortunate enough to travel to Sydney.

Wu made the comments recently before Chen was forced off the Olympic team. That leaves seven others who have the potential to bring home a medal in three sports: taekwondo, weightlifting and table tennis.

Taekwondo makes its Olympic debut in Australia, and Taiwan has four outstanding medal prospects in the sport.

There's 23-year old Huang Chih-hsiung (黃志雄), who as a 10-year-old took up taekwondo to defend himself against bullies. With Huang, Taiwan has an excellent chance at ending the gold drought that has plagued the country since it first began competing in 1956.

Huang took top honors in the Olympic qualifying competition and is a favorite among the 13 competitors in his 58kg division.

But of the four, 17-year-old Chi Shu-ju (紀淑如) perhaps has the best chance of bringing back a medal. The Koreans, who dominate the event, have not entered a competitor in her weight division.

Hsu Chi-hung (許吉宏), 21, is feared by the Koreans and is expected to do well in the men's 68kg division. Hsu Chih-ling (許芷菱), 24, will be put to the test in the women's 57kg competition.

The Taiwan team will be happy to take home any medal, but the desire to bring home the gold is strong.

"It doesn't matter which of the four taekwondo athletes wins the gold; we must win a gold," said coach Sung Ching-hung (宋景宏) in a recent interview.

While the Koreans are expected to give Taiwan some tough competition in taekwondo, Taiwan's neighbor across the Strait is the one to beat in table tennis.

Ranked third by the International Table Tennis Foundation and a gold medalist for China in 1988, Chen Jing (陳靜) is seeded third for the women's singles competition. She first competed for Chinese Taipei at the Atlanta Games in 1996, where she finished second in the women's singles competition.

A strong gold medal possibility also exists for Chen and Xu Jing (徐競), together seeded third in doubles competition. Seeded 21st and ranked 29th in the world, Xu also has an outside chance at a medal in the singles.

In the men's doubles competition, Chang Yen-shu (張雁書) and Chiang Peng-lung (蔣澎龍), seeded third, are an outside chance for a gold medal.

An Olympic veteran, 31-year-old Chen will give herself a well-deserved birthday present if she wins gold, as she celebrates her 32nd birthday on Sept. 20.

Asked recently about the effect her age is having on her game, Chen told the Taipei Times, "I don't think the age of a player has any influence on their quality of play."

At the Table Tennis World Championship in Kuala Lumpur earlier this year, Chinese Taipei's women's team finished second, losing 3-1 to China in the final. The table tennis rivalry that exists between Taiwan and China was very much in evidence.

Officials, players and fans alike are keen to see the cross-strait battle resume in Sydney. In ping-pong parlance, Chen and her teammates will be "going for the kill."

The last medal hopeful is weightlifter Li Feng-ying (黎鋒英). Born in China, Li married national team coach Chung Yung-chi (鍾永吉) in 1995.