Taiwan’s Hsieh Yu-hsing coasted to a 21-16, 21-12 win over Iranian Kaveh Mehrabi yesterday and although China’s leaders have repeated the mantra, ad nauseam, that the Olympic Games should not be politicized, its badminton fans had other plans yesterday.
When Hsieh took to the court, the Beijing crowd treated him as one of their own.
At one point during Hsieh’s match against Iran’s Kaveh Mehrabi someone in the crowd tried several times to start the chant “Go Team Taipei!” but the other spectators were not having it.
Moments later, a spectator on another side of the gymnasium started shouting “Go Team China!” and it caught on and was repeated throughout the match.
“It felt like I was back on my home court, like I was competing in Taiwan,” Hsieh said. “The crowd was really into it.”
But wouldn’t they be chanting something slightly different in Taiwan?
“Yes, yes,” Hsieh said. “But I wasn’t really thinking about it, I was just trying to be serious and play each game well.”
In other the matches, Canadian Anna Rice overcame opening-day nerves yesterday to defeat Eva Lee of the US in three sets at the Olympic badminton tournament.
Rice defeated Lee 21-15, 19-21, 21-19 in the first round of women’s singles at the Beijing University of Technology Gymnasium.
In earlier matches, Maria Kristen Yulianti of Indonesia rallied to defeat Juliane Schenk of Germany 18-21, 21-13, 22-20, setting up a second-round showdown with Spain’s Yoana Martinez. Martinez was a 21-9, 21-16 winner over Australia’s Erin Carroll.
Other first-round winners included Japan’s Eriko Hirose who defeated Iceland’s Ragna Bjorg Ingolfsdottir 21-6, 19-7.
Ingolfsdottir was forced to retire in the second set after twisting her left knee.
Larysa Gryga of Ukraine downed Italy’s Agnese Allegrini 21-15, 21-11. Egypt’s Hadia Hosny beat Mexico’s Deyanira Angulo 21-18, 7-21, 21-14.
Greek swimmer Kristian Gkolomeev was the only athlete to “beat” a world record on Sunday at the Enhanced Games, winning the men’s 50m freestyle at the divisive competition where athletes were free to take performance-enhancing substances. His time of 20.81 seconds — which is not considered official — came in the final event of the night in Las Vegas, sparing the blushes of organizers who made claims that multiple world records would be surpassed due to a sophisticated doping regime. Gkolomeev, who was wearing a synthetic “supersuit” long banned at events such as the Olympics, outpaced Australia’s Cameron McEvoy’s 20.88 set in
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The manager of the Yomiuri Giants, one of Japan’s most popular baseball teams, resigned yesterday after he was arrested for allegedly physically attacking his teenage daughter. Shinnosuke Abe allegedly grabbed the 18-year-old and forced her to the floor at their home in central Tokyo on Monday evening, reported national broadcaster NHK and Kyodo News, citing unnamed police sources. “Leaving like this really means I’m causing you a lot of trouble, and I feel truly sorry about that,” Abe told a hastily arranged news conference, his eyes red with tears. The former star catcher, who is among baseball-obsessed Japan’s most recognized sports figures,
Taiwanese tennis star Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the second round of the mixed doubles at the French Open, after she and German partner Mark Wallner defeated Slovenian Andreja Klepac and Briton Lloyd Glasspool in straight sets, despite temperatures exceeding 32°C in Paris, while Taiwan’s top men’s doubles player Ray Ho also reached the second round. Hsieh, who made it to the semi-finals in the mixed doubles at Roland Garros in 2024, and Wallner defeated Klepac and Glasspool 6-3, 7-5 in just more than an hour, converting three of five break points, while holding their opponents to just one conversion
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