Peng takes top prize in wushu event

Taiwan struck gold again yesterday at the World Games with Peng Wei-chua taking first prize in the men’s wushu competition while the women also won two silvers.

Peng was the golden boy in the men’s Nanquan and Nangun final as his combined total of 19.60 bested Farshad Arabi of Iran by 0.09 points.

Chen Shao-chi had earlier taken silver in the women’s Taolu Jianshu and Qiangshu with a combined score of 19.42. China’s Ma Lingjuan won the gold scoring 19.76.

Fan Man-yu also finished second behind a Chinese athlete, losing out to Cui Wenjuan (19.77) in the women’s Taolu Taijiquan and Taijijian with a combined score of 19.61. Japan’s Miyaoka Ai took bronze.

As Wushu is an invitational event the medals do not count towards the official tally.

Meanwhile, in the Sanshou section, Taiwan’s Kao Yu-chuan lost to Mariane Mariano of the Philippines.

In a busy day for Taiwan in the billiards quarter-finals, men’s gold-medal hope Yang Ching-shun made the last four of the nine-ball event after beating Marcus Chamat of Sweden 11-9, while women’s star Liu Shin-mei went down 9-5 to Great Britain’s Alison Fisher

Also in the women’s competition Chang Shu-han scraped through, beating Line Kjorsvik of Norway 9-8. Lin Yuan-chun, however, made light work of the US’ Vivian Villareal, beating her 9-0 to advance into the last four.

Meanwhile, in the snooker quarter-finals, local interest ended as Wu Yu-lun went out after losing 3-0 to Mohammed Shehab of the United Arab Emirates.

Earlier, Lin Shu-hung had lost 3-1 to David Grace of Great Britain, while Yuan Yung-kuo was also knocked out of the Carom quarterfinals after losing 40-15 to Italy’s Marco Zanetti.

In action at the pool yesterday, the fin swimming saw Taiwan finish last in the final of the men’s 4x100m surface relay, while in the life saving, Taiwan’s Liu Chih-huang finished third in the B final of the men’s 100m manikin saving with fins.

Local interest in the aerobic gymnastics, meanwhile, ended early with mixed pairs duo Lai Wan-chen and Liu Yi-chun failing to make the final.

On the first day of field archery at Cheng Ching Lake, Tien Wen-tsai finished ninth in the men’s barebow first qualifying round, while in the men’s compound qualifying, Wang Chih-hao finished well down the field in 23rd position.

Lung Ting-hsuan, Taiwan’s representative in the men’s recurve, finished ninth out of the 16 competitors after the first day.

In the women’s qualifying, Taiwan’s Lin Mei-ying and Huang I-jou were near the bottom after day one in the barebow and compound events, but Huang Cheng-an finished fifth.

In waterskiing, Liao Chun-yi failed to qualify from the women’s barefoot tricks preliminary round, while for the men, Lin Hao-ting and Kan Chun-yu also failed to make the grade in the men’s wakeboard.

The inline hockey team suffered more disappointment, losing to Italy (4-0) and France (8-0) in yesterday’s round robin qualifiers.

■RUGBY ROUNDUP

BY RICHARD HAZELDINE

STAFF REPORTER, IN KAOHSIUNG

Taiwan pulled off a surprise victory in rugby sevens at the World Games yesterday, beating the US 22-17.

No one at the Main Stadium expected the result, not least the crowd, after Taiwan had been mauled 29-0 by South Africa in their opening Pool A game.

But Taiwan stated their intentions from the first whistle, keeping the ball well in the wet conditions as they ran tirelessly at the US line.