When Taiwan’s budding taekwondo star Lin Wan-ting made her international debut at the East Asian Games in October last year, her sights were already set on winning a gold medal at the Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea.
Yesterday, she fell just short of that ambition, claiming a silver medal in the women’s 46kg class after losing 10-4 in the final to world No. 1 Kim So-hui of South Korea.
The 18-year-old, who shocked Kim in the round-of-16 at the Asian Championships in May, beating her 8-7, kept pace with her South Korean rival through two scoreless rounds and through much of the final round, when the two traded penalty points and kicks.
Photo: AFP
However, an aggressive attacking move by Kim with about 30 seconds left put Lin on the defensive and resulted in a three-point kick to the Taiwanese’s head to put the South Korean up 6-3.
Kim then clinched the win in the final seconds with a four-point reverse kick to Lin’s face that was granted after a challenge by Kim’s coach.
Lin, who finished third at the Asian Championships, did well to get to the final.
Photo: Reuters
She beat Asian champion Panipak Wongpattanakit of Thailand in the semi-finals, 5-4, after building a 5-1 lead and then holding off the hard-charging Thai in the final 30 seconds, conceding just three points.
Meanwhile, in softball, Taiwan’s women’s team lost their semi-final against Japan 6-1, setting up a bronze-medal match against the Philippines, who lost their semi-final 3-0 to China.
In the basketball, Taiwan’s women also lost to China, going down 75-63 to set up a bronze-medal clash with Japan, who were edged 58-53 by South Korea.
Photo: AFP
In the canoe kayak obstacle slalom quarter-finals, Taiwan’s Chang Yun-chuan defeated South Korea’s Oh Yea-chan in the canoe single men’s class to make the semi-finals, while fellow Taiwanese Chang Chu-han defeated Singapore’s Annabella Ng to progress to the semis of the kayak single women’s class.
Taiwan’s rugby team finally got a victory yesterday when they defeated Lebanon 54-5 in their final group game, before crashing to a 57-0 defeat to Japan in the quarters.
Additional reporting by Dave Carroll
By the time Cameron Menzies finally left the arena on Monday, the blood gushing from the gash on his right hand had trickled down his wrist, part of his forearm and — somehow — up to his face. Smeared in crimson and regret, and already mouthing sheepish apologies to the crowd, he disappeared down the steps, pursued by a stern-looking Matt Porter, the chief executive of Professional Darts Corp (PDC). The physical scars from Menzies’ encounter with the Alexandra Palace drinks table after his 3-2 defeat against Charlie Manby at the Darts World Championship would be gone within a few weeks.
Manchester United on Monday blew the lead three times to miss out on moving up to fifth in the Premier League as AFC Bournemouth would not be beaten in a thrilling 4-4 draw at Old Trafford. United have lost just once in their past 10 games, but Ruben Amorim would be frustrated as more points at home were frittered away despite arguably the best attacking display of his reign in charge. Amad Diallo and Casemiro gave the hosts a halftime lead either side of Antoine Semenyo’s equalizer. Two Bournemouth goals from Evanilson and Marcus Tavernier in seven minutes at the start of the
LOW-GOAL SHOOT-OUT: Of the nine penalties in the shoot-out, only three went in, with Flamengo’s Samuel Lino, and Vitinha and Nuno Mendes of PSG netting Matvei Safonov on Wednesday made four straight penalty saves in a penalty shoot-out to help Paris Saint-Germain beat Flamengo in the Intercontinental Cup final and win a sixth trophy of the year. The Russian goalkeeper was thrown in the air by his teammates after his exploits in the shoot-out, which was won 2-1 by PSG after a 1-1 draw after extra-time. It completed a trophy-laden 12 months for the French team, who had already won the Trophee des Champions, Ligue 1, the Coupe de France, the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Super Cup — also on penalties against Tottenham Hotspur in
Italian Luca de Aliprandini described Saturday’s World Cup giant slalom at Val d’Isere as the hardest race of his life, coming two days after his Swiss partner Michelle Gisin suffered a heavy fall in training which required neck surgery. De Aliprandini finished 26th in the men’s event won by Loic Meillard, but the result paled into insignificance with two-time Olympic ski champion Gisin in hospital with injuries to her wrist, knee and cervical spine (neck). “It was Michelle’s wish that I race here. I couldn’t say no to her, but it was the toughest race of my entire life,” an emotional De