Taiwanese paddler Huang Yu-jie yesterday won a silver medal after dominating Hong Kong’s Ng Wing Lam to advance to the women’s singles table tennis final at the Summer World University Games in Essen, Germany, following a silver medal won by the Taiwan’s men’s taekwondo team and a bronze in women’s doubles table tennis.
Taiwan are also guaranteed at least a silver medal in women’s doubles tennis.
Huang on Wednesday survived Japan’s Mana Asada 4-3 to advance to yesterday’s semi-final against Ng Wing Lam, who she overcame in the first game 11-8, before losing 11-8 in the second.
Photo courtesy of the Chinese Taipei University Sports Federation via CNA
However, Huang ratcheted up the pressure on Ng, dominating the following games 11-5, 11-9 and 11-3 to grab a spot in last night’s final against China’s Zhao Shang, who edged compatriot Wang Xiaotong 4-3 in a seven game thriller to advance.
Huang, who already earned a bronze medal with the women’s team on Saturday, was unable to win a game against Zhao, falling 4-0 to walk away with the silver medal.
In Wednesday’s doubles, Taiwanese paddlers Chien Tung-chuan and Tsai Yun-en earned a bronze medal after losing 4-2 to China’s Wang and Han Feier.
Photo courtesy of the Chinese Taipei University Sports Federation via CNA
The Taiwanese pair lost 11-7, 7-11, 11-7, 10-12, 6-11, 8-11 in the best-of-seven format.
Despite the loss, Chien and Tsai secured a bronze for Taiwan, marking the country’s first women’s doubles table tennis medal at the World University Games in a decade, and adding to their women’s team bronze.
Taiwan last medaled in the women’s doubles in 2015, when veteran players Cheng I-ching and Lee Yi-chen won silver in Gwangju, South Korea.
Photo courtesy of the Chinese Taipei University Sports Federation via CNA
In singles, Chien was knocked out in the quarter-finals 4-0 to Zhao, while Taiwan’s Cheng Pu-syuan lost 4-3 to Ng.
In the men’s singles, Taiwan’s Feng Yi-hsin lost 4-3 to China’s Zheng Sun in the quarter-final, while Kao Cheng-jui lost his quarter-final 4-2 to Vladimir Sidorenko of Russia.
Feng and Kao were part of the men’s team who defeated China 3-2 for the gold medal on Sunday.
Photo: courtesy of the Chinese Taipei University Sports Federation via CNA
Competing in the men’s team kyorugi, Hung Jiun-yi, Jung Jiun-jie and Huang Cho-cheng on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals after dominating Malaysia 46-14, 45-13 in the opening round, before surviving a closer 20-18, 22-10 quarter-final against Thailand.
The Taiwanese went on to defeat Uzbekistan 10-8, 29-11 to advance to the gold-medal match.
However, facing a strong South Korean team of Kim Hyo-hyeok, Kang Sang-hyun and Seo Geon-woo in the final, the Taiwanese were unable to withstand their opponents’ aggressive offense, falling behind early after repeated mid-section strikes.
Despite efforts to close the gap, Hung, Jung and Huang ultimately fell short, losing 26-18, 3-0-17 to settle for the silver medal.
It was 21-year-old Hung’s second silver medal of the tournament, after losing 14-4, 8-20, 15-6 to Seo on Sunday in the men’s under-80kg final.
After a dominating 38-10, 22-1 victory over Mexico, Taiwan’s women’s team — Chin I-chun, Chang Jui-en and Lin Wei-chun — missed out on a medal after falling 12-9, 15-12 to Thailand in the quarter-finals.
Taiwan’s mixed kyorugi team (Hsu Hao-yu, Chen Liang-his, Chiu Shao-hsuan, Hsu Yu-hsi) crashed out in the round-of-16 with a 29-24, 26-22, 25-29 loss to Kazakhstan.
In tennis on Wednesday, Taiwan’s Li Yu-yun and Ling Fang-an beat Russia’s Alevtina Ibragimova and Kseniia Zaitseva in the women’s doubles semi-finals to guarantee them at least a silver medal in the event.
They are to face Japan’s Oby Ange Kajuru and Kanon Yamaguchi — who beat China’s Li Zongyu and Yao Xinxin 6-3, 2-6, 10-8 — for the gold.
In Bochum, Germany, Taiwan’s Lin Yu-tang was to compete in the men’s long jump after press time last night. On Wednesday, he qualified with a best jump of 7.7m, finishing fourth in his group. However, as his season best is 8.2m, he was seeded second for the final, behind China’s Shu Heng.
In men’s volleyball, Taiwan on Wednesday lost 3-1 to the Czech Republic to finish sixth. The placement was the second-best finish in the team’s history.
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