Taiwan’s Yang Yung-wei (楊勇緯) achieved a new milestone Sunday by securing the best performance ever by a Taiwanese judoka at the World Judo Championships, finishing second in the men’s under-60- kilogram weight class.
Taiwan’s previous best at the world championships was a bronze medal, won by Chou Yu-ping (周育萍) in the women’s under-48 kg weight class in 1987 and matched by Yang in 2022.
Yang was also Taiwan’s first judoka to win a silver medal at an Olympic Games, accomplishing the feat in Tokyo in 2021.
Photo: CNA
He is hoping for more this year in Paris, and his performance at the world championships in Abu Dhabi, the final event before the end of the Olympic qualification period on June 23, cemented his top ranking in the weight class, giving him the top seed in Paris.
Despite rewriting history and securing his ranking in the United Arab Emirates, however, Yang felt there was more work to be done.
“A record is just a record. I just want to get better, so I won’t feel content with this,” Yang said after the competition. “It was a bit tough to compete in two competitions in a short period, but it also gave me a good chance to prepare [for the Olympics].”
On May 10, Yang took second in his weight class at the Qazaqstan Barysy Grand Slam after being defeated in the final bout by Ramazan Abdulaev of Russia.
Facing off against world No. 8 Giorgi Sardalashvili in Sunday’s final, the Tokyo Olympic silver medalist from Taiwan and the young Georgian phenom stood neck and neck during the four-minute regulation round.
The two then went into sudden-death, and it was not until 200 seconds into the extra period that the 20-year-old Georgian prevailed with a waza-ari, giving him a 2-1 head- to-head advantage against the 26-year-old Yang.
Yang will travel to Japan for the last leg of his overseas training before returning to Taiwan to prepare for the Paris Olympics.
FRUSTRATION: Alcaraz made several unforced errors over four sets against Bosnian Damir Dzumhur, who had never made it past the third round in a major competition Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz reached the fourth round of the French Open after laboring past Damir Dzumhur 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in the Friday night session. The second-seeded Spaniard had never before played Dzumhur, a 33-year-old Bosnian who had never been past the third round at any major tournament. “I suffered quite a lot today,” Alcaraz said. “The first two sets was under control, then he started to play more deeply and more aggressively. It was really difficult for me.” Dzumhur hurt his left knee in a fall in the second round, and had treatment on Friday on his right leg during the
‘DREAM’: The 5-0 victory was PSG’s first Champions League title, and the biggest final win by any team in the 70-year history of the top-flight European competition Paris Saint-Germain won the Champions League for the first time as Luis Enrique’s brilliant young side outclassed Inter on Saturday in the most one-sided final ever with teenager Desire Doue scoring twice in an astonishing 5-0 victory. Doue supplied the pass for Achraf Hakimi to give PSG an early lead and the 19-year-old went from provider to finisher as his deflected shot doubled the advantage in the 20th minute. Doue scored again just after the hour mark, ending any doubt about the outcome before Khvicha Kvaratskhelia ran away to get the fourth and substitute Senny Mayulu, another teenager, made it five. Inter were
The Greek basketball league finals between Panathinaikos and Olympiakos were suspended by the government on Monday following on-court scuffles involving rival security teams. The best-of-five series is at 1-1. The third game, scheduled for today, has been postponed. The owners of both clubs were summoned to meet with the country’s sports minister. They “will be asked to provide explicit guarantees that this situation will be brought to an end. If not, this year’s championship will be definitively canceled,” government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said. “There can be no tolerance for such pathological phenomena of violence and delinquency.” In online posts, the owners of Panathinaikos and
Defender Steph Catley says her UEFA Women’s Champions League title win with Arsenal last week will act as motivation to secure continental glory with Australia when the country hosts the Women’s Asian Cup next year. Catley and compatriots Caitlin Foord and Kyra Cooney-Cross were part of the Arsenal squad that defeated Barcelona in Lisbon on Sunday last week, before flying to Melbourne to feature in the Matildas’ 2-0 win over Argentina on Friday. The game was the first in a two-match series against the South Americans as the Australians continue preparations for the continental championship in March next year, when they would
RSS