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 (李洋).
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
Wang and Chiu won all five of their matches at the tournament in straight games.
The last time Wang claimed a Taipei Open men’s doubles title was in 2018 when he paired up with his older teammate Chen Hung-lin (陳宏麟).
“Now it is my turn to set up the plays and lead the younger player,” Wang said. “This role change makes me feel pretty good.”
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
Wang said that the best performance for him and his new partner this year had been reaching the round of 16.
“Winning the championship at home this time really boosted our confidence. Actually, we started to improve two weeks ago at the BWF [Badminton World Federation] Sudirman Cup. We just didn’t expect to go all the way and win the title,” he said.
For his part, Chiu said that pairing with Wang was not stressful, but motivating.
“The pressure does not come from Wang’s past achievements, but rather from the desire to continuously improve myself in order to keep up,” Chiu added.
Wang and Chiu’s win came after Taiwanese women’s doubles pair Hsieh Pei-shan (謝沛珊) and Hung En-tzu (洪恩慈) earlier in the day clinched the title with a 21-14, 21-15 win over Mizuki Otake and Miyu Takahashi of Japan, also in 43 minutes.
The victory made Hsieh and Hung, the top seeds at the tournament, the first Taiwanese women’s team to win the event in 17 years.
Later yesterday, Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen (周天成) lost to Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew (駱建佑) 14-21, 21-15, 20-22 in the men’s singles final.
Chou, 35, has won the Taipei Open title four times, with the most recent victory in 2022.
The total prize money at the Super 300 tournament on the BWF World Tour is US$240,000.
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
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
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