Taiwanese table tennis players Lin Yun-ju (林昀儒) and Kao Cheng-jui (高承睿) yesterday secured a silver medal in the men’s doubles at the ITTF World Table Tennis Championships in Doha, losing to their Japanese opponents in the final.
After ousting the world No. 1 pair, the French Lebrun brothers, a day earlier, the Taiwanese duo, the sixth-seeded men’s doubles team in the tournament, were defeated by the Japanese world No. 2 pairing of Hiroto Shinozuka and Shunsuke Togami 2-3 in the title match.
Lin and Kao, who were appearing at only their second international event as a doubles pairing, took an early lead by winning the first game 11-6.
Photo: AP
However, the Japanese team bounced straight back to win the second game 5-11 and draw level.
In the third game, the Taiwanese pair again ran out winners with an 11-7 victory to bring the match to a 2-1 lead.
In the fourth game, Lin and Kao failed to take their chances, with their Japanese opponents winning 6-11 to take the match to a 2-2 tie.
Photo: AP
In the deciding game, Lin and Kao were unable to rally, losing by 11 points to six, with the Japanese duo taking a hard-fought 3-2 victory and the gold medal.
This was the first time in 12 years a men’s table tennis duo from Taiwan has won a medal at the ITTF World Championships.
Taiwan had its best performance in the tournament when the men’s doubles team of Chuang Chih-yuan (莊智淵) and Chen Chien-an (陳建安) won the country’s first gold medal in 2013.
Photo: AP
The 23-year-old Lin and his 20-year-old partner teamed up for the first time at the Singapore Smash 2025, attracting a lot of attention with a sensational runner-up finish in their debut tournament in February.
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