Taiwan yesterday snagged two gold medals in artistic gymnastics and women’s weightlifting at the Asian Games in Indonesia.
In artistic gymnastics, Lee Chih-kai clinched a gold medal in the men’s pommel horse final with a score of 15.400, while Tang Chia-hung won silver in the men’s floor exercise with 14.425 points.
Chen Chih-yu later scored 14.600 in the men’s rings final to secure the bronze medal, while China’s Deng Shudi took gold with 14.750 and Japan’s Shogo Nonomura took silver with 14.625.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Taiwan’s second gold medal of the day was won by Kuo Hsing-chun in the women’s 58kg weightlifting event.
“I was really nervous before the competition; it was the first time that I did not sleep well,” Kuo said. “I needed the support of my teammates and coach to encourage me to just be myself and not think too much.”
“It has been tough over the past few years. I have had lots of pressure on me, because I won gold in weightlifting at the Taipei Universiade, so everybody expected me to win it here,” she said.
Photo: Reuters
She completed a 105kg lift and a 130kg clean and jerk for a total of 235kg, topping Thailand’s Sukanya Srisurat with 226kg and Japan’s Mikiko Andoh at 218kg.
In women’s single sculls, Huang Yi-ting clinched silver with a time of 8:16.14.
China’s Chen Yunxia won gold with 8:8.21, while Kazakhstan’s Aleksandra Opachanova took silver with 8:19.32.
Meanwhile, Chen Wei-han won silver in women’s single canoe with a time of 1:51.14.
China’s Chen Shi took gold and Thailand’s Atcharaporn Duanglawa bronze with times of 1:50.32 and 1:56.34 respectively.
In kabaddi, Taiwan lost to India 27-14 in the women’s team semi-finals, finishing with bronze.
However, the team will still celebrate, as it was the nation’s first podium finish in the sport at the Asian Games.
“It was an unbelievable effort by our team to reach this stage, because kabaddi is not a familiar sport in Taiwan,” coach Tsai Wei-yang said. “Our performance today showed other nations our strength in this sport.”
“We can only get better with more international tournaments and if more kids take up kabaddi,” Tsai added.
In softball, the women’s team defeated the Philippines 6-3 to advance to the final against Japan.
In tennis, Taiwanese sisters Latisha Chan and Chan Hao-ching advanced to the women’s doubles semi-finals after defeating Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima and Erina Hayashi 4-6, 7-5, 10-5.
The Chan sisters are to face Kazakhstan’s Gozal Ainitdinova and Anna Danilina in the semi-finals today.
In the women’s singles, Liang En-shuo picked up a bronze after falling to China’s Wang Qiang 6-1, 6-3.
In the men’s singles, Taiwan’s highly rated Jason Jung was stopped in the quarter-finals by South Korea’s Lee Duck-hee, who triumphed 6-3, 7-5.
As of press time last night, Taiwan had secured five gold medals, six silver and 11 bronze since the Games began in Jakarta on Saturday last week.
Additional reporting by staff writer
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care