Taiwanese shuttlers Wang Chi-lin and Lee Yang yesterday made short work of the US’ Vinson Chiu and Joshua Yuan to remain undefeated in their group in the men’s doubles at the Paris Olympics, while three Taiwanese table tennis players advanced to the round of 16.
The Tokyo Olympic gold medalists took just 31 minutes to dominate the American duo 21-12, 21-13 for their third win in Group D, after beating Japan’s Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi on Saturday and second seeds Anders Skaarup Rasmussen and Kim Astrup on Monday.
They are today to play China’s Liu Yuchen and Ou Xuanyi. The two top-ranked pairs in each group qualify for the quarter-finals.
Photo: CNA
In table tennis, fifth seed Lin Yun-ju defeated Croatia’s Andrej Gaina 4-0 in straight sets in a brisk 35 minutes to advance to the round of 16.
He is next to face the winner of today’s match between 13th seed Darko Jorgic of Slovenia and 25th seed Liam Pitchford of the UK.
Meanwhile after press time on Monday, Cheng I-ching, competing in the women’s singles, defeated Romanian Elizabeta Samara 4-2 in 59 minutes, while Kao Cheng-jui only needed 38 minutes to dominate Eduard Ionescu of Romania 4-1 in the men’s singles.
Seventh seed Cheng is to face 28th seed Natalia Bajor of Poland in the round of 16.
Kao, seeded 20th, is likely to face a tough match against top seed Wang Chuqin of China, who is today to play 19th seed Truls Moregard of Sweden in their round-of-32 match.
In archery, Taiwan’s Tai Yu-hsuan dominated Finland’s Antti Tekoniemi 6-0 in the men’s individual 1/32 elimination round, but was defeated by France’s Thomas Chirault 6-5 in the 1/16 round.
In shooting, Yang Kun-pi, yesterday failed to qualify after slipping to 12th place after the fifth round of the men’s trap qualification. Only the top six advance.
In boxing, Huang Hsiao-wen was defeated in her women’s under-54kg round-of-16 bout, losing 4-1 to Bulgarian Stanimira Petrova.
In later action on Monday, boxer Lai Chu-en was eliminated in men’s welterweight (63.5kg) boxing after losing 3-2 to Bazarbay Uulu Mukhammedsabyr of Kazakhstan in the round of 16, while Wu Shih-yu advanced to the quarter-finals in the women’s 60kg division after Nigerian Cynthia Ogunsemilore was disqualified due to a doping allegation.
While world No. 59 fencer Chen Yi-tung was ousted by fifth seed Enzo Lefort of France 15-12, it was the most points the 21-year-old Taiwanese had scored in his three matches against the 32-year-old veteran.
Despite the loss, he tied Taiwan’s best Olympic showing in the sport, set by Hsu Jo-ting in the women’s epee individual event at the 2012 London Games, the last time a Taiwanese fencer competed in the discipline.
Chen’s appearance also ended a 36-year drought in which Taiwanese men had not competed in the sport at the Olympics, following his coach Wang San-tsai’s appearance in Seoul in 1988.
“I will keep going. I’m going to stand on the podium at the Los Angeles Olympics four years from now,” Chen said after his loss.
Meanwhile, 36-year-old veteran judoka Lien Chen-ling declined to comment on her next steps after her defeat on Monday in the women’s 57kg round-of-16 bout to Serbian phenom Marica Perisic.
Taiwan’s first woman to win a judo gold at last year’s Asian Games, Lien finished fifth in her Olympic debut in Rio 2016, but was disqualified in the round of 16 in Tokyo after receiving three shidos, or warnings for minor violations.
“From the beginning of the first games, I think I couldn’t have stood here on my own,” she said, expressing her gratitude for the Taiwanese support.
“It was just not my day to win today,” she added. “I want to leave the mat with my head up to say thank you to you all.”
While she said she plans to take a few months off to rest, her team wrote on Facebook saying “she will continue to make tosses until she no longer wants to do it.”
Her loss meant that Taiwan’s quest for a judo medal in Paris was over, after Tokyo silver medalist Yang Yung-wei and Lin Chen-hao were eliminated in the men’s 60kg repechage and the women’s 48kg round of 16 respectively on Saturday.
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