Taiwanese soft tennis players Lin Ting-chung and Liu Chia-lun pulled off an upset win over their Japanese opponents in the men’s team event yesterday, giving the nation its first gold medal of this year’s Asian Games in Gunagzhou.
Lin and Liu lost the first set to Shigeo Nakahori and Tsuneo Takagawa, but bounced back to claim victory.
Earlier in the day, Taiwanese women’s won silver in the team event after losing to Japan in the final.
Photo: Liu Jin, AFP
Also yesterday, Wang Chin-fang took silver in the 63kg women’s judo and Zeng Han-chieh garnered a bronze in the 90kg men’s event, while Lee Wen-jung won bronze in the women’s Wushu (martial arts) and swimmer Cheng Wan-jung bagged a bronze in the 400m individual medley.
In tennis, Taiwan’s Lu Yen-hsun trudged across a -spectator-free outer court beat Cecil Mamiit in straight sets 6-2, 7-6 (3), withstanding an attempted comeback by the Philippine veteran in the second set to help Taiwan advance to the men’s team semi-finals and guarantee at a least a bronze medal.
“For this team, I just tried to get this win. I hope I can get some good rest. I hope my form doesn’t deteriorate ... I will pray tonight,” said Lu, visibly tired as he spoke after the match.
Photo: AFP
“I will try to hang in there, but I really didn’t feel great today,” he said after suffering with a back complaint.
Lu is seeded No. 1 in the singles draw, but didn’t want to discuss the individual competition yet.
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