Taiwan’s Lo Chia-ling yesterday clinched the nation’s second medal at the Tokyo Olympics, grabbing a bronze medal in taekwondo in the women’s 57kg class.
Nineteen-year-old Lo beat Niger’s Tekiath Ben Yessouf 10-6 at Tokyo’s Makuhari Messe convention center.
Lo, who is making her first appearance in the Olympic Games, worked her way to the bronze medal contest with an early 20-18 win against South Korea’s Lee Ah-reum in the round of 16, before dropping Canada’s Skylar Park 18-7 in the quarter-final.
Photo: EPA-EFE
It was Anastasija Zolotic of the US who denied the former World Taekwondo Junior Championship gold medalist a chance to fight for an Olympic gold. Zolotic handily won the in the semi-final bout 28-5.
Zolotic went on to secure the gold after defeating Russia’s Tatiana Minina 17-25.
The other bronze for the women’s 57kg class went to Turkey’s Hatice Kubra Ilgun, who downed Iranian defector Kimia Alizadeh 8-6.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Alizadeh — who won bronze in Rio de Janeiro for Iran, but was this year vying for the Refugee Olympic Team’s first-ever medal — earlier shocked two-time Olympic gold medalist Jade Jones in the round of 16, beating the British champion 16-12.
Taiwan’s other medalist, Yang Yung-wei, who took home silver in the men’s 60kg judo on Saturday, yesterday posted a video thanking his fans for their support, adding that he would target gold at the Paris Olympics in 2024.
In the 36-second clip, Yang thanked people for watching his match and cheering him on, saying that he was happy to win Taiwan’s first medal at the Olympics.
Yang said he was a little disappointed because he felt before the match that he had a chance for the gold.
The 23-year-old fell to Naohisa Takato of Japan in the final on Saturday. His second-place finish earned Taiwan its first-ever medal in an Olympic judo competition.
“I think [the loss] will keep me more motivated for the Paris Olympics,” he said.
Yang, who is Paiwan, grew up in a “judo family” in Taichung, with a mother and two brothers who also practice the sport. He started learning judo in the third grade.
His former coach at Shin Min High School, Lin Shih-hsuan, said that Yang was a disciplined and dedicated student who was unafraid of challenges.
Yang was forbidden from having a girlfriend at high school, so he could focus on the sport, Lin said.
Neighbors and friends in Taichung have also been strong supporters.
When Yang was 17, the ward where he lived raised NT$60,000 so he could travel to compete in Lebanon.
To pay it forward, Yang has stayed in touch with his high school, and last summer shared his experiences with judo students there.
He is to talk to the judo students again after the Olympics, the school said.
Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen said that residents are to discuss a proposal to name a new road in the city Yung-wei Road.
Additional reporting by AP
Brice Turang and Pete Crow-Armstrong’s consecutive RBI singles proved to be the difference in the US’ 5-3 win over Canada in a World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarterfinal on Friday night in Houston. The US faces the Dominican Republic, which crushed South Korea 10-0 in seven innings in its quarter-final, in a semifinal Sunday in Miami for a spot in Tuesday’s championship. The Dominican team has won all five games in this WBC by a combined margin of 51-10. It appeared the US squad was headed toward a cozy victory when it built a 5-0 lead by the sixth inning. A first-inning RBI groundout
Wilyer Abreu watched the ball leave the park and tossed his bat high in the air. His Venezuela teammates streamed out of the dugout in celebration. The comeback was on and the win over the reigning World Baseball Classic (WBC) champion Japan was within reach. Japan, their 11-game WBC winning streak on the line, held a 5-4 lead in the sixth inning of Saturday’s thrilling quarter-final matchup when Abreu put his team ahead with the biggest swing of the game: a three-run shot off Hiromi Itoh that sent the loanDepot Park crowd into a passionate roar and helped seize Venezuela’s 8-5
A BREATHLESS BATTLE: France clinched the championship in a vicious back-and-forth match with England, denying Ireland the title by just a few points France won back-to-back Six Nations titles after beating England 48-46 on a last-second penalty-kick by Thomas Ramos in a thriller for the ages on Saturday. England scored their seventh try in the 77th minute and converted for 46-45. If the score held for a few more minutes, Ireland would have been crowned the champion. But France pressed yet again with 14 men, lost possession, regained it, and earned two simultaneous penalties after the fulltime siren. Captain Antoine Dupont debated with referee Nika Amashukeli where the penalty spots were. Ramos, who did not miss a goal-kick all night, finally lined up his seventh
Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions’ outfielder Chen Chieh-hsien, who fractured his left index finger earlier during the World Baseball Classic (WBC), is expected to be sidelined for four to six weeks. The Uni-Lions confirmed in a news statement on Friday that Chen had a distal fracture in his left index finger. The diagnosis followed X-ray and CT scans conducted at the Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital earlier that day. According to the club, the injury would require four to six weeks to heal. During this period, Chen must wear a protective splint but is permitted to engage in light, sport-specific training. The team plans to
RSS