Taiwanese paddlers defeated China 3-2 yesterday in the men's team table tennis final at the 2025 Summer World University Games in Germany, securing Taiwan's first-ever gold in the event.
The men's team table tennis event at the World University Games uses a best-of-five singles format. Taiwan's team consisted of Feng Yi-hsin (馮翊新), Kao Cheng-jui (高承睿) and Huang Yan-cheng (黃彥誠).
Photo courtesy of the Chinese Taipei University Sports Federation via CNA
In the opening match, 22-year-old Feng defeated Chen Junsong (陳俊菘) 3-1 (11-7, 11-3, 7-11, 11-7) to give Taiwan a 1-0 lead over China.
However, world No. 25 Kao then lost to Sun Zheng (孫政) 1-3 (8-11, 11-8, 5-11, 5-11), leveling the match at 1-1.
Huang, playing the third match, put Taiwan back in the lead at 2-1 by defeating Zeng Beixun (曾蓓勳) 3-1 (11-4, 8-11, 12-10, 11-6).
Kao returned for the fourth match but lost to Chen, tying the score at 2-2. Feng then quickly bounced back by defeating Sun in the final match to clinch the victory 3-2 for Taiwan.
The victory marked Taiwan's first-ever men's team gold at the University Games, improving on their previous best of silver. Afterward, Feng said the win felt surreal. "I was nervous in the final match, but my teammates' cheers gave me confidence," he said.
"Our tactics worked so well, I could hardly believe it," he said.
Huang said their ultimate goal was to win gold, while Kao, who struggled in his matches, thanked his teammates for securing the victory. "My performance wasn't even worthy of a bronze," he admitted. "I'm grateful to my teammates for helping me fulfill this dream."
Coach Chu Yen-hui (朱硯匯) praised the team's balanced lineup and trust. "With Feng stepping up at crucial moments, that's what made this gold medal possible," he said.
Taiwan also won three silver medals yesterday, finishing second in the badminton mixed team event, taekwondo and swimming.
Wilyer Abreu watched the ball leave the park and tossed his bat high in the air. His Venezuela teammates streamed out of the dugout in celebration. The comeback was on and the win over the reigning World Baseball Classic (WBC) champion Japan was within reach. Japan, their 11-game WBC winning streak on the line, held a 5-4 lead in the sixth inning of Saturday’s thrilling quarter-final matchup when Abreu put his team ahead with the biggest swing of the game: a three-run shot off Hiromi Itoh that sent the loanDepot Park crowd into a passionate roar and helped seize Venezuela’s 8-5
A BREATHLESS BATTLE: France clinched the championship in a vicious back-and-forth match with England, denying Ireland the title by just a few points France won back-to-back Six Nations titles after beating England 48-46 on a last-second penalty-kick by Thomas Ramos in a thriller for the ages on Saturday. England scored their seventh try in the 77th minute and converted for 46-45. If the score held for a few more minutes, Ireland would have been crowned the champion. But France pressed yet again with 14 men, lost possession, regained it, and earned two simultaneous penalties after the fulltime siren. Captain Antoine Dupont debated with referee Nika Amashukeli where the penalty spots were. Ramos, who did not miss a goal-kick all night, finally lined up his seventh
Home runs are greeted with a celebratory shot of espresso and the donning of an Armani jacket. Victories are marked with bottles of red wine while the soaring voice of opera singer Andrea Bocelli echoes through the locker room. Welcome to baseball, Italian-style. Written off as 80-1 underdogs before the World Baseball Classic started, Italy’s fairytale tournament has carried them all the way to today’s (Taipei time) semi-finals in Miami against Venezuela. On Saturday, Italy — who scored a stunning upset of a star-studded US lineup during the pool phase — kept their unbeaten campaign alive with a nail-biting 8-6
Kimi Antonelli became Formula 1’s second-youngest race winner with a composed drive to victory for Mercedes in an eventful Chinese Grand Prix yesterday. The 19-year-old Italian was the youngest pole position starter and briefly lost the lead to Lewis Hamilton of Ferrari at the start, but retook it soon after and was in control after that. “We did it! We did it!” Antonelli shouted to his team on the radio amid laughs and whoops. It was another 1-2 finish for Mercedes to start the season as Antonelli’s teammate George Russell came through a battle with both Ferraris to finish second. Lewis Hamilton was
RSS