Taiwan’s Cheng Cheng-yu (鄭丞佑) yesterday clinched a gold medal in the boys’ gymnastics vault event at the ISF U15 Gymnasiade in Zlatibor, Serbia.
Cheng scored 13.566 and 11.900 points for his two vaults, with an average score of 12.733.
He also won silver in the floor event and a bronze as part of Taiwan’s team in the team event on Monday.
Photo: CNA
Gymnastics is just one of 25 sports featured at the Gymnasiade, also known as the U15 World School Sport Games, and one of 12 in which Taiwan is fielding competitors.
The results were an ideal birthday gift for Cheng, who turns 15 on Saturday.
In his third year in the junior-high division of Taipei Municipal Datong High School, Cheng is the son of Taiwan’s national gymnastics coach Cheng Kun-chieh (鄭焜杰).
His father told the Central News Agency that the moves Cheng Cheng-yu can perform on the vault are quite advanced for his age, “so before we set off I thought he should be able to win a medal. It was just a matter of the color.”
Taiwan’s 133-member delegation to the Gymnasiade, which runs until Monday next week consists of 75 athletes, 28 coaches and 30 other staff.
The 75 athletes are participating in 12 sports — archery, track and field, badminton, boxing, breakdancing, artistic gymnastics, judo, karate, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo and tennis.
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