Taiwanese table tennis player Lin Yun-ju yesterday won in surprisingly commanding fashion to clinch a spot in the men’s singles semi-finals at the Tokyo Olympics and match Taiwan’s best ever performance in the event.
Lin, seeded fifth, defeated 18th-seed Darko Jorgic of Slovenia 11-4, 11-7, 11-4, 11-6 in just 25 minutes. He dominated throughout, never trailing by more than two points in any of the four games.
Jorgic had been expected to provide more resistance, having on Tuesday toppled the tournament’s third seed, Tomokazu Harimoto of Japan, but the Slovenian struggled to match Lin’s intensity and consistency.
Photo: AP
The victory puts the 19-year-old first-time Olympian in contention for a second medal in Tokyo, after he and partner Cheng I-ching took home bronze in the mixed doubles event on Monday.
However, to earn a spot in the final, he must beat world No. 1 Fan Zhendong of China today.
Fan scored a 4-0 victory against 10th-seeded Jeoung Young-sik of South Korea yesterday.
In reaching the semi-finals, Lin has tied Chuang Chih-yuan’s fourth-place finish at the 2012 London Games for the best performance by a Taiwanese player in the men’s singles competition.
The day did not go so well for other Taiwanese competitors.
In archery, Lei Chien-ying was defeated 4-6 by Ukraine’s Veronika Marchenko in the women’s individual round-of-32.
In shooting, Yang Kun-pi failed to qualify in the men’s trap, as he placed 21st and only the top six could progress.
In swimming, Wang Hsing-Hao was not among the best 16 in the men’s 200 individual medley who made it to the semi-finals.
Taiwan’s Tang Chia-hung and Lee Chih-kai competed in the men’s individual all-round artistic gymnastics final last night.
Tang placed seventh overall, while Lee placed 21st.
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