Taiwanese archer Lin Zih-siang on Saturday qualified for the Paris Olympics by winning gold in men’s recurve at the Asian Continental Qualification Tournament in Bangkok.
The National Taiwan Sport University student defeated India’s Bommadevara Dhiraj 6-5 in the final, after dispatching Tarundeep Rai, also of India, in the quarter-finals and Hong Kong’s Kwok Yin Chai in the semi-finals.
Lin said that he had received encouragement in Bangkok from his junior-high school classmate Tang Chih-chun, who won silver at the Asian Archery Championships in the Thai capital on Thursday.
Photo courtesy of Chinese Taipei Archery Association via CNA
The pair first competed abroad in the ninth grade in Turkey, Lin said.
“It is now me clinching a ticket for Taiwan to the Olympics, which to some extent shows how we push each other to improve,” he said.
“Earning a spot at the Olympics for Taiwan is just the beginning. I will work harder at the upcoming tryouts [to make sure] I’m competitive when the Olympics in Paris start,” he added.
Liu Chan-ming, Lin’s coach, said that the archer “has been working very hard and finally succeeded this time.”
“I don’t think his success at this competition is random, but a result of his persistence,” Liu added.
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