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.
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.
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.
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