Taiwan’s Lin Yu-tang on Sunday won gold in the men’s long jump at the biannual Asian Indoor Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan, while teammate Chen Kuei-ru won silver in the men’s 60m hurdles.
Lin, 22, broke the Taiwan national record for men’s indoor long jump, with a distance of 8.02m on his third attempt, beating out Indian Jeswin Aldrin’s 7.97m and Chinese Zhang Mingkun’s 7.92m.
Taiwan’s Wen Hua-yu finished fourth with a jump of 7.82m.
Photo courtesy of the Chinese Taipei Athletics Association via CNA
Lin’s gold is Taiwan’s second ever at the championships, after Hsieh Chia-han won the men’s pole vault in 2014 with a jump of 5.15m.
In the men’s 60m hurdles, Chen, 29, finished just 0.03 seconds behind Kazakhstan’s David Yefremov to grab silver, crossing the finish line in 7.68 seconds. Japan’s Shuhei Ishikawa finished third with a time of 7.7 seconds.
Chen’s time was 0.02 seconds short of his own national record of 7.66 seconds, which he set at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Serbia last year.
Photo courtesy of the Asian Athletics Association
“It is a shame that it was so close [to the national record]. I’ll adjust myself after returning to Taiwan,” he said, adding that he had set to break that record in Astana.
Lin and Chen both said they were not used to the weather in the Kazakh capital, where temperatures over the weekend were as low as minus-20°C.
“I took a while to warm up,” Lin said. “At first I couldn’t get into the zone, but by the second and third jumps I was ready to break my record.”
For Chen, it was all about the snow.
“I was really excited to see snow for the first time, so I went outdoors to take a few photos of it and touched it to find out what it feels like,” he said. “But it was too cold, so I only lingered for about five minutes.”
The four-man team from Taiwan also included Li Yun-chen, who broke Taiwan’s national record for men’s indoor triple jump with a leap of 16.28m, but finished sixth in the final.
The 10th Asian Indoor Athletics Championships, held from Friday to Sunday, followed the eighth edition in 2018, after the 2020 edition set to be held in Hangzhou, China, was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
For some, Cristiano Ronaldo remains the essential spearhead for Portugal’s FIFA World Cup bid, while others believe his presence would prevent Roberto Martinez’s strong side from flourishing. The debate around the five-time Ballon d’Or winner rages on, as it did at UEFA Euro 2024 and four years ago in Qatar — yet Ronaldo endures, ready to play in a record sixth World Cup. The 41-year-old remains a global superstar despite swapping the European elite for Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr, and is the leading men’s international goalscorer with 143 strikes. With 25 of those coming in 30 games under Martinez, the coach
Taiwanese tennis star Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the second round of the mixed doubles at the French Open, after she and German partner Mark Wallner defeated Slovenian Andreja Klepac and Briton Lloyd Glasspool in straight sets, despite temperatures exceeding 32°C in Paris, while Taiwan’s top men’s doubles player Ray Ho also reached the second round. Hsieh, who made it to the semi-finals in the mixed doubles at Roland Garros in 2024, and Wallner defeated Klepac and Glasspool 6-3, 7-5 in just more than an hour, converting three of five break points, while holding their opponents to just one conversion
FAST AND LOOSE: Despite command struggles, Ohtani has pitched his way out of trouble after falling behind in counts, which manager Roberts credited to his velocity Shohei Ohtani on Wednesday night tossed six innings of no-hit ball, gave himself an early lead with a home run and still was not satisfied with his performance. The Los Angeles Dodgers’ two-way superstar dropped some expletives that were picked up by the on-field mic as he struggled with his command in a 4-1 win over the Colorado Rockies. He struck out seven, walked four and gave up an earned run in the fourth inning while visibly fuming on the mound. Ohtani (5-2) earned his third consecutive victory. “Just command was off, and I just felt like I was battling the lack of
Taiwanese sprinter Chen Yi-cen on Friday won the silver medal in the women’s 400m final at the Asian U20 Athletics Championships in Hong Kong, with a time of 53.16 seconds. Chen, 15, was the youngest among the eight finalists, and her performance also met the qualifying standard of 53.50 seconds for the Nagoya Asian Games in Japan in September and October. Chen first made her mark at the National Games in Tainan in 2023, at the age of 13, winning the women’s 400m final in 55.55 seconds to become the youngest gold medalist in the history of the event. Meanwhile,