Taiwan's gymnasts will take on 40 athletes from nine countries this week in the 2002 China Motor International Gymnastic Cup.
Top class gymnasts from Russia and around the world have been invited to the event, which takes off tomorrow at Fong-shan Stadium in Kaohsiung and moves to Taipei over the weekend for the competition proper.
Local rhythmic gymnast Tseng Yu-ting and other Chinese Taipei Olympic athletes will be on show in Kaohsiung.
The Chinese Taipei Gymnastic Association has invited an all-star cast of competitors for the event, with the long-term prospect of boosting its chances of sporting success at future Olympic and Asian Games.
Sports chiefs have concluded after a prolonged and so far unsuccessful pursuit of an Olympic gold medal that the country should focus its training efforts on sports in which it has the resources to do well.
Baseball, softball, table tennis, weightlifting, women's soccer, shooting, archery, ten-pin bowling, billiards and now gymnastics are some of the sports in which it is assumed Taiwan can succeed on the international stage.
Both private and government funding are stimulating this development and the recent visit of Nadia Comaneci to these shores was part of this same drive to promote sports and achieve success on the international stage.
Taiwan's team at the International Gymnastic Cup is composed of six male and seven female athletes in the 20- to 22-year-old range.
They include the "two Lins and one Lee" -- Lin Yung-hsi (
The teams this year come from nine countries, namely Russia, Ulkrane, Romania, Uzbekistan, Russia, Korea and Australia.
International Gymnastic Cup winner Sinkevich Aliaksei, Olympic silver Medalist Svitlychnyy Oleksanpr from Ulkrane and South Korea's Lee Sun-sung
Free ticket request toll-free
number 0800-333-230, or http://www.china-motor.com.tw
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