Taiwanese gymnast Tang Chia-hung (唐嘉鴻) on Saturday won a gold medal in the men’s horizontal bar competition at the Doha World Cup, extending a run of dominant performances in the lead-up to the Paris Summer Olympics.
The Doha event was the last of four competitions making up the International Gymnastics Federation’s Artistic Gymnastics World Cup series, which serve as qualification events for the Paris Games to be held from July 26 through Aug. 11.
Tang, 27, already won gold medals in horizontal bar at the series’ first two stops in Cairo and Cottbus, Germany, in February, and officially secured an Olympic berth at the third competition in Baku, Azerbaijan, last month.
Photo courtesy of Tang’s coach Weng Shih- hang via CNA
In the final at Doha, Tang soared to another first-place finish with a total score of 15.133, based on an execution score of 8.633 on a routine with a difficulty score of 6.5.
He was followed by Robert Tvorogal of Lithuania, who won a silver medal with a score of 14.7, and Brazil’s Arthur Mariano, who took bronze with a score of 14.533.
Meanwhile, Ting Hua-tien (丁華恬) became the second Taiwanese gymnast to qualify for the Paris Games following her performance in the women’s balance beam competition in Doha.
She scored 12.6 points to take ninth place in beam qualifications, adding 16 to her Olympic qualification ranking points to finish with 57 and place third overall in the event.
Ting needed help from other favorable results, as Nina Derwael of Belgium had qualified for the Paris Olympics in leading the event at 90 ranking points after the Baku competition, followed by Laura Casabuena of Spain with 61 points.
As the Spaniard qualified for the Olympics on floor exercises, Ting was able to take the beam spot.
Separately, Lai Kuan-chieh (賴冠傑) yesterday became the first Taiwanese canoeist to qualify for the Olympics after winning a silver medal at the Asian Canoe Sprint Championships in Tokyo.
Lai finished in 4 minutes, 11.577 seconds in the men’s C-1 1km sprint final, edging Miao Feilong of China by 0.297 seconds for the final Olympic qualification spot.
Mohammad Nabi Rezaei of Iran won the race to also qualify for the Olympics in 4:10.98.
Lai’s finish was not a complete surprise given that he was the first canoeist from Taiwan to win a gold medal at last year’s Asian Games in the same event.
Additional reporting by Lin Yueh-fu
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY: Taiwan shares the same values as those that fought in WWII, and nations must unite to halt the expansion of a new authoritarian bloc, Lai said The government yesterday held a commemoration ceremony for Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, joining the rest of the world for the first time to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Taiwan honoring V-E Day signifies “our growing connections with the international community,” President William Lai (賴清德) said at a reception in Taipei on the 80th anniversary of V-E Day. One of the major lessons of World War II is that “authoritarianism and aggression lead only to slaughter, tragedy and greater inequality,” Lai said. Even more importantly, the war also taught people that “those who cherish peace cannot
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
The Philippines yesterday criticized a “high-risk” maneuver by a Chinese vessel near the disputed Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島) in a rare incident involving warships from the two navies. The Scarborough Shoal — a triangular chain of reefs and rocks in the contested South China Sea — has been a flash point between the countries since China seized it from the Philippines in 2012. Taiwan also claims the shoal. Monday’s encounter took place approximately 11.8 nautical miles (22km) southeast” of the Scarborough Shoal, the Philippine military said, during ongoing US-Philippine military exercises that Beijing has criticized as destabilizing. “The Chinese frigate BN 554 was
The number of births in Taiwan fell to an all-time monthly low last month, while the population declined for the 16th consecutive month, Ministry of the Interior data released on Friday showed. The number of newborns totaled 8,684, which is 704 births fewer than in March and the lowest monthly figure on record, the ministry said. That is equivalent to roughly one baby born every five minutes and an annual crude birthrate of 4.52 per 1,000 people, the ministry added. Meanwhile, 17,205 deaths were recorded, resulting in a natural population decrease of 8,521, the data showed. More people are also leaving Taiwan, with net
RSS