Chen Nien-chin on Thursday moved one win away from securing a second medal in women’s boxing for Taiwan at the Paris Olympics.
Chen upset No. 3 seed Barbara Maria dos Santos of Brazil 5-0 in the round-of-16 in the women’s 66kg (welterweight) division to match her record in Tokyo three years ago.
Chen, 27, needs only one more win to be guaranteed to bag the first Olympic medal of her career, as there is no bronze-medal match in Olympic boxing.
Photo: AP
The Asian Games bronze medalist is scheduled to face Uzbekistan’s Navbakhor Khamidova today.
If she wins, Chen will join Wu Shih-yi, who on Wednesday secured a spot in the women’s 60kg (lightweight) semi-final. She is to fight Yang Wen-lu of China today.
There was controversy elsewhere in the 66kg category.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Imane Khelif and Angela Carini on Thursday exchanged a few brisk punches in their 46 seconds in the ring, which was enough to persuade Carini that her Olympic debut was finished.
The Italian abruptly walked away from her Algerian opponent and went to her corner, abandoning her bout — a rare occurrence in Olympic boxing.
Carini did not shake Khelif’s hand after the referee formally raised it, but she cried in the ring after sinking to her knees. Minutes afterward, a still-tearful Carini said she quit because of the pain from those opening punches.
“I felt a severe pain in my nose, and with the maturity of a boxer, I said: ‘Enough,’ because I didn’t want to, I didn’t want to, I couldn’t finish the match,” Carini said.
Khelif was disqualified from last year’s world championships after failing an unspecified gender eligibility test.
Carini, who had a spot of blood on her trunks, said she was not making a political statement and was not refusing to fight Khelif.
Carini said she is not qualified to decide whether Khelif should be allowed to compete.
“I just did my job as a boxer,” Carini said. “I got into the ring and fought. I did it with my head held high and with a broken heart for not having finished the last kilometer.”
Carini later received a visit from Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who consoled the boxer in a photo posted on Meloni’s Instagram page.
“I know you won’t give up, Angela and I know one day you will win what you deserve with effort and sweat. In a competition that is finally equal,” Meloni wrote.
Khelif could clinch an Olympic medal with a victory in the quarter-finals today against Anna Luca Hamori of Hungary.
Hamori expressed no concern about fighting Khelif.
“I’m not scared,” she said. “I don’t care about the press story and social media. If she or he is a man, it will be a bigger victory for me if I win.”
After years of competition in amateur tournaments around the world, Khelif and Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan have received scrutiny for their presence in Paris.
Lin won IBA world championships in 2018 and 2022, but was stripped of a bronze medal last year because of a failed biochemical test.
Lin was to fight Sitora Turdibekova of Uzbekistan in the 57kg category after press time last night.
Omar Marmoush’s stunning long-range strike on Tuesday upstaged Kevin de Bruyne on the Manchester City great’s Etihad farewell. Marmoush let fly from about 30m to put City ahead in their 3-1 win against AFC Bournemouth in the Premier League. The victory moved Pep Guardiola’s team up to third in the standings and left qualification for the UEFA Champions League in their own hands heading into the last round of the season. “It’s really important. To be in the Champions League after what happened [this season] will be really nice,” the City manager said. De Bruyne was making his final home appearance for City before
TIGHT FINISH: Napoli only needed to do the same as or better than Inter, who won their game against Como 2-0 on the same day, leaving Napoli with a one-point lead The two players who Antonio Conte wanted more than any others secured Napoli their second Serie A title in three years on Friday. Scott McTominay scored with an acrobatic bicycle kick before halftime and Romelu Lukaku doubled the lead with a solo goal after the break in the decisive 2-0 home win over Cagliari. Conte became the first coach to win the Italian championship with three different teams. “Everyone contributed to this — but the coach most of all,” Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo said. “Napoli needed him to get back on top. He’s phenomenal.” Comparing it to his three Serie A titles won
The journey of Taiwan’s badminton mixed doubles duo Ye Hong-wei and Nicole Chan at the Malaysia Masters in Kuala Lumpur came to an end in the semi-finals yesterday after they suffered a 2-0 loss to China’s Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping. Ye, 25, and Chan, 20, teamed up last year and are currently ranked No. 23 in the world. The Taiwanese shuttlers took on China’s second seeds in the mixed doubles event, but proved no match for Feng and Huang, losing the match 10-21, 7-21. In the first half of the first game, the pairings were neck and neck at 6-7 until Ye
SSC Napoli coach Antonio Conte has dragged the team back from disaster and restored them to the top of Italian Serie A, but his future at the Scudetto winners is in doubt even after a triumphant season. The fiery 55-year-old has exceeded preseason expectations and bolstered his reputation as a serial winner by guiding Napoli to their fourth Scudetto, and second in three seasons. However, he might well be on his way in the summer after just one season at the helm as his charged relationship with Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis has simmered throughout the campaign. Conte has said
RSS