Tue, Oct 01, 2002 page20

• Taiwan victorious in cross-strait clashes

  SURPRISES The men's rugby sevens team won all three of its games, including an upset over favored Japan, and the women's softball team outplayed China 4-1

  • By Jules Quartly / STAFF REPORTER
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  China bowed to Taiwan yesterday at the Asian Games in Busan, South Korea, as the nation's women triumphed in softball and its men won in rugby sevens.

  In softball, Chen Feng-yin led her team to a deserved 4-1 victory over the Reds; while the rugby sevens team won three matches, including a whitewash of its cross-strait rival, to make it into the semifinals of the competition.

  

  Leader of Taiwan's team Thomas Huang, center, cheers on the country's women's softball team yesterday at the Gudeok Baseball Stadium, in Busan, South Korea. Taiwan won the game 4-1.

  PHOTO: JULES QUARTLY, TAIPEI TIMES

  The victories made up for an earlier loss to China in judo and an 11-point defeat against Kazakhstan in basketball.

  At Gudeok Baseball Stadium a small but passionate crowd was on hand to witness Taiwan's first softball game of the tournament.

  Taiwan's supporters were boosted by the arrival in the second inning of delegation leader and Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee President Thomas Huang (黃大洲).

  It proved to be a turning point in the game, as 22-year-old Chen turned up the heat for Taiwan with a run, after getting a hit, a steal to second base and making it home on an error by the catcher.

  Taiwan's fans were led by a courtesy support group of South Koreans up to that point, shouting "Taipei forward." With the arrival of Huang and others, the chant changed to "Taiwan go" and the bemused clique of South Korean fans rooting for China across the ballpark were silenced.

  A journalist from China approached to find out why the carefully orchestrated support for Taiwan had changed its tune, but wandered off after realizing there was nothing he could do about it.

  In the fourth inning, Wang Ya-fen was walked and Chen stepped up to the plate to crush a triple-base hit to right field. Chen made it home for another run on a hit from Lo Hsiao-ting.

  Another triple-base hit in the sixth inning from Chen brought the tally to four runs for Taiwan, on a sacrifice by Huang Hui-wen.

  Taiwan was firmly in control coming into the seventh and final inning, but China managed to salvage a little pride with a run on a fielding error. Head coach Ni Chao-liang then took out Lai Sheng-jung -- who had pitched up to that point, giving up five hits and striking out two.

  It was a simple matter for closer Lin Po-jen to finish off the game, striking out the final Chinese batter and taking the winning pitcher honors.

  Coach Ni said after the game that Chen -- with three hits, two triples and one RBI in three plate appearances -- was the star performer and had earned Taiwan its first victory.

  Chen was more modest and thanked her coach Yang Chen-min for developing her game. A relatively late bloomer, Chen started as a pitcher but focussed on batting after being advised to do so by her coach at Taichung Physical Education University.

  She had only played three international games before yesterday but has now turned into a "star performer," according to Ni.

  Onlooker Steeve Hsieh, secretary-general of the Chinese Taipei Softball Association, said Taiwan was now confident of achieving top honors in the event.

  He said Taiwan's third-place finish in the Softball World Championships last month in Canada and qualification for the 2004 Olympics in Athens, was just the beginning.

  "This time round we are looking for silver and possibly gold. We just need a bit of luck, that's what this game is about sometimes," Hsieh said.

  "We have been working from dawn to dusk, often 10 hours a day for the last eight to 10 months. We are better because we have been working so hard."

  Hsieh said all the effort was beginning to pay off, but he also cautioned against too much optimism, saying China "in my opinion has gone down in the last two years."

  Japan, second to the US at the world championships, and possibly South Korea would provide stiffer tests, Hsieh said.

  In rugby sevens, Taiwan amazed itself and everyone else.

  Though it has a lot of experience through the Hong Kong sevens tournaments, Taiwan was not expected to do as well as it has so far at the Asian Games. The fact it won three games in a row yesterday was not as significant as the way it won.

  First off, it whipped Hong Kong 29-0, scoring three tries in the first half and two in the second.

  Just over two hours later it took on the might of Japan and order seemed to have been restored when Taiwan went into the half-time break trailing 5-7. But head coach Wu Mao-cheng stiffened his defense and Taiwan scored three unanswered tries and one conversion for a 22-7 victory.

  "In the first game with Hong Kong the players were a bit nervous and did not perform so well, but in the second half we became more powerful," Wu said.

  "Then, before the game against Japan we thought we would not win, but we had a look at them playing in another game and thought maybe they weren't so strong after all. I said `we stand a good chance here' and everyone agreed."

  After that it was China's turn and Taiwan once again turned up the heat, crushing its rival with three tries to none, for a handsome 19-0 win.

  "We felt very good at this stage," Wu said.

  In basketball, Kazakhstan defeated Taiwan 86-75, but it can still advance further in the event after beating Qatar 71-61 the previous day.

  The country's quest for its first medal at the Asian Games was frustrated, however, when Lee Hsiao-hung was beaten by China's Sun Fuming in judo.

  In the fight for third place she was unable to wear down her Mongolian opponent Erdene Ochir Dolgormaa in the women's 78kg category.
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