Taiwan’s Chin I-chun and Chiu Yi-jui on Monday won silver and bronze medals respectively in taekwondo at the Summer World University Games in Essen, Germany, while Taiwan’s women’s volleyball team scored a comeback victory against China in Berlin, their first victory over their regional rivals since 2013.
Competing in the women’s over-73kg division, Chin received a bye in the qualification round before winning her next two matches to advance to the semi-finals, where she faced Poland’s Dagmara Haremza.
Despite her height disadvantage, Chin held her ground in a tightly contested first round, forcing her opponent into two penalties for losing her balance to win the round 2-1.
Photo courtesy of the Chinese Taipei University Sports Federation via CNA
Although she fell behind in the second round due to a penalty, Chin seized a late opportunity in the final seconds to reverse the score and again win the round 2-1, earning her a 2-0 victory and a spot in the gold medal contest against Song Dabin of South Korea.
Despite her strong defensive efforts, Chin was unable to fend off Song’s attacks and was repeatedly struck with head-level kicks. She ultimately lost 2-0 to take a silver medal for Taiwan.
Chiu — who won a silver medal at the delayed 2021 Summer World University Games held in Chengdu, China, in 2023 — moved up from the men’s 68kg to the 74kg division in Germany.
Photo courtesy of the Chinese Taipei University Sports Federation via CNA
He advanced to the semi-finals without dropping a single round, before falling to Georgia’s Zurab Kintsurashvili 2-0 (losing 9-6 and 11-8 in the two rounds) to settle for bronze.
Taiwan now has 13 medals — three golds, five silvers and five bronzes — ranking sixth among the 34 participating nations.
The Taiwan women’s volleyball team were last night after press time to face Poland for fifth place after defeating China.
Photo courtesy of the Chinese Taipei University Sports Federation via CNA
Despite losing their first two sets, Taiwan turned the tide to top China in the next three sets 25-19, 25-23 and 15-9 to take the best-of-five match.
During the fourth set, the teams were tied 21-21 when Taiwan took three points and reached set point first, before spiker Liu Shuang-ling took the set with a smash.
In the final 15-point set, Taiwan were down 6-7, before scoring nine points to China’s two.
Photo courtesy of the Chinese Taipei University Sports Federation via CNA
The last time the Taiwan women’s volleyball team beat China in the World University Games was in 2013 in Kazan, Russia, with a 3-0 clean sweep during the preliminary round, according to the International Volleyball Federation.
The highlight of the match was Taiwan’s opposite hitter Chang Yi-chi, who scored 29 points, the most on the team.
“We gave it our all, and we could tell the opponents were under pressure,” she said in a post-match interview.
She also credited her teammates’ performance, saying that “the team won this match together.”
Meanwhile, 18-year-old Chiang Ching-yuan from National Taiwan Sport University was last night to compete in the women’s shot put final after qualifying on Monday with a 16.6m throw on her first attempt.
Her second attempt in Group A qualifying was a scratch, while her third was 16.46m. She finished third in her group and sixth overall.
In table tennis, Taiwan’s Feng Yi-hsin and Tsai Yun-en crashed out of their mixed doubles quarter-final with a 4-3 loss to China’s Zeng Beixun and Han Feier.
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