Taiwanese athletes consolidated fourth place on the medals table at the East Asian Games in Tianjin, China, as they picked up another three gold medals in gymnastics, karate and basketball late on Sunday and yesterday.
In the artistic gymnastics men’s rings competition, Chih Yu-chen scored 15.450 to claim gold on Sunday, while in karate, Yen Tzu-yao picked up the gold in the men’s under-75kg category yesterday.
Taiwan also picked up two silver medals in karate — Tang Wei-chieh in the men’s under-67kg category and Chien Cheng-kuan in the men’s under-60kg — as well as three bronze — Fan Sheng-yen in the men’s over-84kg, Wen Tzu-yun in the women’s under-55kg and Chao Jou in the women’s under-68kg category.
Photo: EPA
In tennis, Huang Liang-chi picked up silver in the men’s singles, while Peng Hsien-yin claimed the bronze. In the women’s singles, the silver went to Chan Chin-wei, while Lee Ya-hsuan took home the bronze.
In soft tennis, the men’s team — Lin Sheng-fa, Lin Shih-chun, Lin Yu-tse, Yang Sheng-fa and Yu Kai-wen — won the silver medal, while the women’s team — Chang Wen-hsin, Chen Yi-chia, Cheng Chu-ling, Chiang Wan-chi and Li Chih-yi — picked up the bronze.
In cycling, Hsiao Shih-hsin took the bronze medal in the men’s 1km time trial, while Huang Ting-ying claimed bronze in the women’s individual pursuit.
Photo: EPA
There was also a bronze medal for Ping Chien-hsu in the artistic gymnastics after a score of 14.350 on the men’s pommel horse.
In judo, Xiang Ting-qiu got the bronze in the women’s under-48kg category, as did Ming Yen-tsai in the men’s under-60kg and Chia Hung-chien in the men’s under-66kg.
At press time, China led the medals table with 126 golds, ahead of Japan with 41 and South Korea with 33. Taiwan were in fourth with 17 gold, 25 silver and 44 bronze.
BASKETBALL
By Paul Huang
Contributing reporter
Taiwan rebounded from a double-digit second-half deficit to outscore China 26-20 in the decisive fourth quarter to pocket the gold in men’s basketball at the East Asian Games yesterday afternoon.
It was the third time that Taiwan have won the top honor in the six editions of the event in which they have participated, adding to their victories over South Korea in 1997 and 2005.
The win gave the Islanders a perfect 5-0 record this year after they stormed through the preliminaries with a 3-0 record and topped Japan in a convincing 103-74 win to face China in the title game.
Keh Chi-hao’s three-pointer in the closing seconds gave the Islanders a two-point lead and Tseng Wen-ting followed with a clutch free-throw to help the visitors pull off the upset win over the hosts.
Also starring for Taiwan were Lin “the Beast” Chih-chieh, who netted a team-high 21 points, and Quincy Davis, who turned in his second double-double outing in as many days with 13 points and 13 rebounds.
BASEBALL
By Paul Huang
Contributing reporter
Holding the hosts scoreless over the course of a rain-delayed contest, Taiwan blanked China 4-0 in their bronze-medal baseball game at the Tianjin Sports Center’s Baseball Field yesterday morning to end the competition on a high note.
The win not only salvaged what had been a disappointing tournament for the Islanders, in which they squandered a 4-0 start in the preliminaries — including an stunning 11-0 shutout win over favored Japan — with three straight losses that denied them a berth in the title game, but also avenged a tough loss to China in the first match.
Starter Luo Hua-wei dominated from the beginning with six scoreless innings of four-hit ball and seven strikeouts to deny the China batters before his successor, Kuo Jung-lin, followed with three equally effective innings of one-hit ball with six strikeouts to keep the shutout intact.
“We didn’t get the gold, which is what we came here for, but we are still satisfied with what we have accomplished,” Taiwan coach Lu Ming-tsu said after the game.
Offensively for the Islanders, Hsiao Po-ting’s two-out double with two on base saw both runners score in the top of the fourth to break a scoreless tie after China’s starter silenced Taiwan’s batters with three tremendous innings of no-hit ball.
Leading by two, Taiwan tacked on a run in the seventh and the ninth for some insurance off China ace Li Xin, who won the first meeting between the two squads in the preliminaries with an unbelievable relief appearance.
JAPAN 4, SOUTH KOREA 2
Japan doubled up on South Korea in a convincing triumph to claim the gold in this year’s tournament.
It is the first time that the sport has been included in the regional competition.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB