Taiwan got back on the medal trail yesterday in dramatic fashion on the penultimate day of action with three gold medals at the World Games in Kaohsiung.
The golds came in karate (one) and powerlifting (two), while Taiwanese athletes also picked up one bronze each in Karate and women’s nine ball pool.
Huang Hao-yun (黃昊昀) picked up a gold medal in the men’s karate kumite under 80kg final, although he probably knew little about it as he was taken to hospital after being knocked out by Russia’s Islamutdin Eldaruchev in his gold medal bout.
PHOTO: CHANG CHUNG-YI, TAIPEI TIMES
Huang had earlier fought his way back to 6-6 from 5-2 down in a violent bout that saw both men flattened on a number of occasions. However, his Russian opponent then knocked Huang out with a punch to the face that saw Huang stretchered off. Huang was handed an 8-0 win and the gold medal.
Minister of Sport Tai Hsia-ling (戴遐齡) stood in for Huang at the medal ceremony, collecting the medal in front of an empty podium.
Meanwhile, Chang Ting(張婷) also won a bronze in the women’s under-60kg division.
Earlier in the day, Chen Wei-ling (陳葦綾) and Hsieh Tsung-ting (謝宗庭) were the stars as they grabbed gold in the powerlifting women’s and men’s lightweight divisions respectively while in the women’s pool Lin Yuan-chun took bronze after beating compatriot Chang Shu-han in the third-fourth place playoff.
The medals take Taiwan up to sixth spot in the overall medal table with eight gold, six silver and six bronze medals.
Olympic bronze medalist Chen set new world records in the deadlift and the squat at the National Sun Yat-sen University Hall which helped to make up for her bench press score, the poorest of her three disciplines.
Chen finished with a score of 668.27, well ahead of second-placed Yukaku Fukushima of Japan who scored 630.65.
Chen said later that she was happy to win gold at the World Games, especially as they were in Taiwan.
“I felt I had a good chance to win, so I didn’t feel that much pressure,” she said.
Indonesia’s Sri Hartani finished with bronze after scoring 628.9 while Taiwan’s Chou Yi-ju finished fourth with 609.27 points.
Meanwhile, Hsieh took gold after his three lifts earned him a combined total of 615.92 points, while Arkadiy Shalokha of Ukraine took silver with 584.37.
Speaking after the medal ceremony, Hsieh thanked his namesake former Kaohsiung mayor Frank Hsieh for all the support and encouragement he had given him.
Later, Taiwan’s Chou Chien-yu just missed out on a medal finishing just 2.9 points short of third place in the women’s middleweight division.
Men’s middleweight powerlifters Huang Lung-hsin and Kuan Yi-hsin also missed out on a medal, while the men’s heavyweight final featuring Chen Ching-chung was ongoing as of press time.
In the women’s pool, Lin and Chang were forced to face off in the bronze medal match after Chang had lost her semi-final in the early session 9-2 to Jasmin Ouschan of Austria while Lin Yuan-chun was beaten 9-5 by Alison Fisher of the UK.
Men’s hope Yang Ching-shun stayed on track for gold after narrowly beating Germany’s Thorsten Hohmann 11-10 in the round of four to make the final where he will meet Ralf Souquet of Germany.
Also yesterday, Taiwan’s Tchoukball teams continued their awesome form on day two of qualifying at the Kaoshiung Normal University Gymnasium yesterday.
The men’s team scored a big win against Macau in their first game of the day, winning 64-28, while the ladies ran out 75-22 winners over Singapore.
In the evening games the men beat the UK 73-42 and the ladies beat Canada 57-22. The wins saw them finish top of their respective tables and qualify for the final. The women’s and men’s gold medal matches will take place at 12.45pm and 2pm today.
Also See: Fiji sweep all before them, Taiwan finish in sixth
ECONOMIC RESILIENCE: Only 11.4 percent of Taiwan’s overseas investments last year were in China, and businesses are dispersing their investments elsewhere, Lai said China’s ambition to annex Taiwan is based on a desire to change the rules-based international order, rather than a desire for territorial gains, President William Lai (賴清德) said in an interview. During an appearance on the talk show The View With Catherine Chang, aired last night, Lai said China aimed to achieve hegemony, and that peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait was an issue of worldwide concern. During the interview, Lai also discussed his “four-pillar plan” for peace and prosperity, which he first outlined in an article published by the Wall Street Journal on July 4 last year. That
‘REGRETTABLE’: TPP lawmaker Vivian Huang said that ‘we will continue to support Chairman Ko and defend his innocence’ as he was transferred to a detention facility The Taipei District Court yesterday ruled that Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) be detained and held incommunicado over alleged corruption dating to his time as mayor of Taipei. The ruling reversed a decision by the court on Monday morning that Ko be released without bail. After prosecutors on Wednesday appealed the Monday decision, the High Court said that Ko had potentially been “actively involved” in the alleged corruption and ordered the district court to hold a second detention hearing. Ko did not speak to reporters upon his arrival at the district court at about 9:10am yesterday to attend a procedural
Thirty Taiwanese firms, led by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控), yesterday launched a silicon photonics industry alliance, aiming to accelerate the medium’s development and address the energy efficiency of artificial intelligence (AI) devices like data centers. As the world is ushering in a new AI era with tremendous demand for computing power and algorithms, energy consumption is emerging as a critical issue, TSMC vice president of integrated interconnect and packaging business C.K. Hsu (徐國晉) told a media briefing in Taipei. To solve this issue, it is essential to introduce silicon photonics and copackaged optics (CPO)
The High Court yesterday overturned a Taipei District Court decision to release Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and sent the case back to the lower court. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office on Saturday questioned Ko amid a probe into alleged corruption involving the Core Pacific City development project during his time as Taipei mayor. Core Pacific City, also known as Living Mall (京華城購物中心), was a shopping mall in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) that has since been demolished. On Monday, the Taipei District Court granted a second motion by Ko’s attorney to release him without bail, a decision the prosecutors’ office appealed
RSS