Taiwanese cyclists dominated in both men’s and women’s races yesterday at the East Asian Games in Tianjin, China, with Feng Chun-kai winning the men’s road race on the strength of an early lead, clocking 1:43:06 over 77.6 km.
“Taking an upper hand early on is one of the factors in winning a race,” Feng said.
He said he was surprised to win, but was happy to be able to contribute for Taiwan.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times
Huang Ting-yin burst into tears after reaching the finish line in the women’s 43km road race. She grabbed gold after a last-minute sprint, clocking 1:13:08.
“I was thrilled and very happy to win,” she said. “I decided in the sprint that I would go all out and never give up.”
Compatriot Hsiao Mei-yu, a three-time gold winner in women’s road cycling in the Asian Cycling Championships, took the bronze.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times
Meanwhile, Taiwan’s dragon boat teams were also dominant, the men winning the 500m races for teams of 12 and 22, while in the women’s 500m race for 12, Taiwan claimed silver.
The men’s volleyball team also struck gold, beating Japan in a five-set thriller, with China defeating South Korea to earn bronze.
Taiwan’s women’s bowling team of five landed a silver behind South Korea, while China picked up bronze.
Taiwanese pair Lee Sheng-mu and Wang Pei-rong claimed a bronze medal in the badminton mixed doubles and the women’s basketball team also won bronze after beating Japan 67-61 yesterday.
Wang Yi-ta won a bronze for Taiwan in the men’s individual kata karate competition, while Chien Hui-hsuan battled her way to a bronze in the women’s competition.
Taiwan’s Chen Yen-hui grabbed silver in the women’s under-50kg karate, while compatriots Hsieh Cheng-kang and Wu Chun-wei matched her achievement in the men’s under-55kg and under-84kg competitions respectively.
Chang Ting of Taiwan won bronze in the women’s under-61kg category.
There were also bronzes for the Taiwanese duos in the men’s and women’s soft tennis.
BASEBALL
By Paul Huang
Contributing reporter
Managing only four hits, Taiwan fell victims to superb pitching by Japan in a 6-0 loss in the semi-finals of the East Asian Games at the Tianjin Sports Center’s baseball field yesterday afternoon to drop out of title contention.
It was a demoralizing defeat following their setback against South Korea the day before that left the national team having to face Japan instead of China; on paper a much easier opponent, despite China’s victory over Taiwan in an extra-inning affair in the preliminaries.
Starter Wang Yao-lin, who guided Taiwan to a stunning 11-0 win over Japan in seven innings in the preliminaries, got the call from coach Lu Ming-tzu once again. However, the second time around was not as successful for the Chicago Cubs right-hander as he ran into trouble early and often, falling behind 0-5 in the second inning after issuing three walks and as many hits to a Japan lineup that was out for revenge.
Japan tacked on another run in the fourth on the strength of two base hits to make it 6-0, a score that stood until the end.
Desperate to save face, Taiwan take on China in the bronze medal game this morning. Taiwan have only lost three times to China in international competitions, but defeat today would make it twice in the same tournament.
BASKETBALL
By Paul Huang
Contributing reporter
Taiwan stormed their way into the men’s basketball title game at the East Asian Games in Tianjin last night with a 103-74 semi-final trouncing of Japan.
Quincy Davis had another big day at the office with a team-high 16 points and 11 rebounds in a double-double outing to lead a fivesome that scored in double-digits to lift Taiwan to victory.
Taiwan ended the first quarter with a 27-15 advantage and led by a convincing 56-31 at the half before a more evenly fought second half in a game in which they never trailed.
Leading the way for Japan were Daiki Tanaka, Yuya Nagoyoshi and Kengo Nomoto, whose combined 53 points accounted for the bulk of their team’s points.
Marta Kostyuk’s maiden WTA 1000 title in Madrid came on Saturday thanks to her power, poise and a pair of unexpected lucky shorts. The world No. 23 beat eighth-ranked Mirra Andreeva 6-3, 7-5 in under 90 minutes to secure the most prestigious trophy of her career, her third professional singles title and second in less than a month after Rouen. Yet as the 23-year-old Ukrainian posed for photographs at the Caja Magica, it was not just the silverware that caught the eye. Held alongside her team and her two dogs, Kostyuk showed off a piece of black men’s underwear, prompting
Lin Yun-ju on Thursday handed Taiwan two key victories as they advanced to the semi-finals of the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals in London. The Taiwan men’s table tennis team beat Sweden 3-2 in five singles matches. The 24-year-old Lin, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7 and nicknamed the “Silent Assassin,” opened the tie by defeating world No. 2 Truls Moregard 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 13-11) before clinching the deciding fifth match with a 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-5) win over Anton Kallberg to hand his team the overall victory. Kuo Guan-hong put Taiwan up 2-0 with a 3-2 (4-11, 11-8, 8-11,
Throwing more than US$5 billion at a divisive new tour and walking away after five seasons does not look like good business, but LIV Golf was not all bad news for Saudi Arabia. Oil-funded LIV, which poached top stars and sent golf’s establishment into a tailspin, helped push the conservative kingdom into global view — one of its key aims, experts said. The exit, confirmed on Thursday after weeks of speculation, does not signal a flight of Saudi money from sport, even after the Middle East war that sparked Iranian attacks around the Gulf, they said. “Saudi Arabia is not
Arsenal stormed six points clear at the top of the English Premier League as Bukayo Saka and Viktor Gyokeres put Fulham to the sword in a 3-0 win, while West Ham United’s defeat at Brentford offered Tottenham Hotspur a lifeline in the battle for survival. The Gunners have stumbled toward the finish line in their quest for a first league title in 22 years, blowing a sizeable lead over Manchester City in a series of nervous displays. However, the return of Saka, making his first start in six weeks, freed up Mikel Arteta’s men in a dominant performance that shrugged
RSS