Taiwan’s Lin Yun-ju (林昀儒) yesterday failed in his bid to claim a bronze medal at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, as the 19-year-old rising star lost a nail-biting men’s singles bronze medal match 4-3 to Germany’s Dimitrij Ovtcharov.
It was history repeating itself, after Ovtcharov once again denied Taiwan its first ever Olympic table tennis medal in men’s singles.
The teenage table tennis sensation had his chances in the best-of-seven bronze medal match, garnering four match points in a dramatic sixth game, but the Kiev-born German saved all of them and blunted another rally in the final game for a 13-11, 9-11, 6-11, 11-4, 4-11, 15-13, 11-7 triumph in 66 minutes.
Photo: AFP
Taiwan’s previous best finish in Olympic men’s singles had been nine years earlier in London, when Chuang Chih-yuan (莊智淵) lost a six-game heartbreaker in the bronze medal match to Ovtcharov, 14-12 in the final game.
Lin had a better chance to break the dry spell, but he lamented his inability to convert any of his four match points.
“I didn’t feel especially nervous, but I know I didn’t play some of those points right,” Lin said.
Photo: AFP
The “Silent Assassin,” as he is known because of his calm under pressure, struggled out of the gate in the final game, falling behind 9-3.
“By that point, the momentum had shifted to my opponent, and all I could do was try to catch up one point at a time,” he said.
He rallied for four straight points to pull within 9-7, but Ovtcharov closed out the match when Lin hit a backhand into the net.
“All I can do now is go home and figure out how to get better,” Lin said.
His coach Chiang Peng-lung (蔣澎龍) said that Lin was outstanding in his first Olympic appearance, in which the world No. 6 teenager nearly defeated world No. 1 Fan Zhendong (樊振東) of China in the semi-finals.
Chiang felt Lin did tighten up in the latter stages of yesterday’s match, because he wanted to win too much, but that would change with experience, he said.
“He has a big opportunity in the future, and will now look toward the 2024 Olympics in Paris,” Chiang said.
Ovtcharov praised Lin for pushing him to the brink. Asked about taking bronze from Taiwan for a second time in nine years, Ovtcharov said that Chuang is a good friend and Lin is a teammate of his at his European club, but in the end, the Olympics are a competition.
He had no doubt that Lin would break through.
“He will definitely win a medal one day,” the German said.
Additional reporting by AFP
MILITARY BOOST: The procurement was planned after Washington recommended that Taiwan increase its stock of air defense missiles, a defense official said yesterday Taiwan is planning to order an additional four PAC-3 MSE systems and up to 500 missiles in response to an increasing number of missile sites on China’s east coast, a defense official said yesterday. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the proposed order would be placed using the defense procurement special budget, adding that about NT$1 trillion (US$32,88 billion) has been allocated for the budget. The proposed acquisition would include launchers, missiles, and a lower tier air and missile defense radar system, they said The procurement was planned after the US military recommended that Taiwan increase
POLITICAL AGENDA: Beijing’s cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival events are part of a ‘cultural united front’ aimed at promoting unification with Taiwan, academics said Local authorities in China have been inviting Taiwanese to participate in cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations centered around ideals of “family and nation,” a move Taiwanese academics said politicizes the holiday to promote the idea of “one family” across the Taiwan Strait. Sources said that China’s Fujian Provincial Government is organizing about 20 cross-strait-themed events in cities including Quanzhou, Nanping, Sanming and Zhangzhou. In Zhangzhou, a festival scheduled for Wednesday is to showcase Minnan-language songs and budaixi (布袋戲) glove puppetry to highlight cultural similarities between Taiwan and the region. Elsewhere, Jiangsu Province is hosting more than 10 similar celebrations in Taizhou, Changzhou, Suzhou,
COGNITIVE WARFARE: Chinese fishing boats transmitting fake identification signals are meant to test Taiwan’s responses to different kinds of perceived incursions, a report said Chinese vessels are transmitting fake signals in Taiwan’s waters as a form of cognitive warfare, testing Taipei’s responses to various types of incursions, a report by the Institute for the Study of War said on Friday. Several Chinese fishing vessels transmitted fake automatic identification system (AIS) signals in Taiwan’s waters last month, with one mimicking a Russian warship and another impersonating a Chinese law enforcement vessel, the report said. Citing data from Starboard Maritime Intelligence, the report said that throughout August and last month, the Chinese fishing boat Minshiyu 06718 (閩獅漁06718) sailed through the Taiwan Strait while intermittently transmitting its own AIS
CHINESE INFILTRATION: Medical logistics is a lifeline during wartime and the reported CCP links of a major logistics company present a national security threat, an expert said The government would bolster its security check system to prevent China from infiltrating the nation’s medical cold chain, a national security official said yesterday. The official, who wished to stay anonymous, made the remarks after the Chinese-language magazine Mirror Media (鏡周刊) reported that Pharma Logistics (嘉里醫藥物流) is in charge of the medical logistics of about half of the nation’s major hospitals, including National Taiwan University Hospital and Taipei Veterans General Hospital. The company’s parent, Kerry TJ Logistics Co (嘉里大榮物流), is associated with the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the
RSS