Taiwan’s men and women made a strong start in their campaign for Tchoukball gold in Kaohsiung yesterday, with both teams earning big victories.
In the crunch second game of the day against reigning world champions and No. 1 seeds Switzerland, Taiwan were in imperious form, making a very good Swiss team look very ordinary.
The Swiss had no answer to Taiwan’s ruthless, high-energy play and acrobatic shooting and catching around the trampoline, as the home side ended the first of three periods 27-15 ahead.
Taiwan’s tactic of switching ends quickly caught the Swiss out and by the end of the second period their lead was 51-31.
The third period was a little slower paced, but Taiwan still outscored the Swiss 25-19 to wrap up a 76-50 victory that left them in pole position for a place in the final following their 71-36 victory against Singapore in game one.
Meanwhile, Taiwan’s ladies thrashed Great Britain 65-29 in their opener. Faster switching — the key to scoring in Tchoukball — saw Taiwan build up an early lead.
They then built steadily on that lead as superior shooting skills and a succession of unforced errors by Great Britain saw them hold a 21-9 lead by the end of the first period.
More slick play and British errors extended that lead to 43-21 after the second period, before they wrapped up the win, outscoring the Brits 22-8 in the final period.
In their second match against a strong Switzerland team the women won 48-38 while in the last game of the day the men thrashed Canada 62-29.
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