Taiwan’s Candie Kung was among the frontrunners after the first round of the women’s golf tournament at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Wednesday, while Teresa Lu was in the top third.
Kung carded a four-under-par 67 to be in a share of fourth with Nicole Broch Larsen of Denmark and Spain’s Carlota Ciganda, while Lu shot a one-under 70 to claim a share of 19th with six others.
“It’s a good result so far, and I am happy to be at the Olympics,” Kung said.
Photo: EPA
“I will take a relaxed and cheerful approach, to enjoy competing at the Games,” she said.
Lu said she would take more risks in attacking the course over the next three rounds.
“I want to play aggressively to grab more birdies and move closer to the leaders,” she said. “This is the Olympics and I am aiming for a medal. There is no medal for finishing fourth or fifth.”
At press time last night, Lu had surged into a share of first with a five-under-par round though 13 holes. Kung was in a share of third after one hole.
Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn led after the first round, with South Korea’s Kim Sei-young and Inbee Park right behind her.
The 20-year-old Jutanugarn, who won the Women’s British Open last month, shot a six-under-par 65. Park, who had sat out competitive golf until a few weeks ago to rest her thumb and back, took advantage of calm conditions to fire a five-under-par 66 without a bogey in sight.
“A no-bogey round is a great round. My ball striking was really good, I had a lot of opportunities. The wind wasn’t strong so it was a lot easier to play,” Park said.
As for Park’s thumb, she said it felt much better.
“It almost feels like I don’t want to speak of my thumb again. I want to give it my best this week and injury is not going to be a problem,” she said.
South Korea are favorites to make the podium, because they have the largest team in Rio, with four competitors in a 60-player field.
In contrast to the men’s tournament, all the top women are in Rio competing for the first gold medal in women’s golf since 1900.
OTHER SPORTS
In women’s wrestling, Olympic newcomer Chen Wen-ling was overpowered by Ochirbat Nasanburmaa of Mongolia 6-0 in the first round of the 69kg division.
Although she made history as the first female Taiwanese wrestler to qualify for an Olympics, it was no contest as the stronger Nasanburmaa quickly eliminated Chen.
Chen only lasted 77 seconds before sustaining a dislocated shoulder and the referee stopped the bout.
Disappointed with her brief stay, Chen broke into tears and leaned on her trainers for support.
“I cried all the way when leaving the venue. It was not the pain from the dislocated shoulder, but the pain of a poor performance,” she said. “I was let down by how it turned out.”
Taiwan’s Huang Shih-feng finished 33rd in the men’s javelin event, with his best throw 74.33m. Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago threw 88.68m for the best qualifying distance ahead of tomorrow’s final.
In the women’s 49kg taekwondo, Taiwan’s Huang Huai-hsuan lost to China’s Wu Jingyu 10-1 in the round of 16.
South Korea’s Kim So-hui defeated Tijana Bogdanovic of Serbia 7-6 in the gold-medal bout.
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