Taiwan’s athletes yesterday celebrated gold medals in karate and dragon boat racing, while wins in badminton and basketball made podium finishes possible at the Asian Games in Indonesia.
Wen Tzu-yun (文姿云) edged Kazakhstan’s Sabina Zakharova 1-0 in the women’s karate under-55kg division, before defeating Macau’s Wong Sok I 4-1 in their semi-final and defeating Iran’s Taravat Khaksar 4-0 in their final.
Wen is the first athlete to become the bantamweight champion in consecutive Games, as she also took home gold at the Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, in 2014.
Photo: AP
Ranked world No. 1, Wen said she felt confident of beating her opponents.
“I just knew that I could do it. Then for some reason I got nervous and did not sleep well for a few days,” she said. “It was only last night that I felt my body was ready for it.”
In the men’s 500m dragon boat final, Taiwan outdistanced the other five teams.
Photo: AFP
The 16-member Taiwan team finished in 2 minutes, 11.691 seconds to take gold, followed by China in 2:14.297 for silver and Indonesia in 2:15.727 for bronze.
“The team performed at the top level that I knew they were capable of and the result was better than we expected,” said Huang Chun-ting, head coach of the men’s dragon boat team. “We got the team to stay relaxed when starting out ... while aiming for the final.”
“We have to stay focused to get another medal in the 1,000m,” Huang added.
The Taiwan women’s team finished their 500m dragon boat semi-final in 2:33.722 to take fourth — behind Indonesia, China and Singapore — but did not qualify for the final.
In badminton, Taiwan’s top players Tai Tzu-ying and Chou Tien-chen were victorious in their match, carrying them into the medal rounds.
World No. 1 Tai cruised past Nozomi Okuhara of Japan 21-15, 21-10 in their women’s singles match to face Saina Nehwal of India in the semi-finals.
Chou worked hard to beat Ng Ka Long of Hong Kong 21-18, 21-18 to face Anthony Ginting of Indonesia in the semi-finals.
Taiwan pairing Lee Yang and Lee Jhe-huei defeated Choi Sol-gyu and Kang Min-hyuk of South Korea 21-16, 21-16 to advance to the men’s doubles semi-finals.
In hoops action, the Taiwan women’s basketball team thrashed Mongolia 76-59 in their quarter-final to face the unified Korea team in the semi-finals on Thursday.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
RSS