Taiwanese billiards champion Chang Jung-lin (張榮麟) died in Jakarta on Monday, national billiards association president Chao Fong-pong (趙豐邦) said.
He was 40.
Chao confirmed Chang’s death in an interview with the Central News Agency, describing it as “really too sudden.”
Photo: Screen grab from Chang Jung-lin’s Facebook page
Chang, who was known in Taiwan by his nickname “Devil Fire Cloud” (火雲邪神), had competed in a match earlier that morning and returned to his hotel to rest after feeling unwell, Chao said.
He was found in his hotel room without a pulse and not breathing, and was taken to a hospital, but could not be revived, he said.
He described Chang as “among the best in Taiwan,” winning many international championships.
Chang had been scheduled to represent Taiwan at the World Games in China next month, Chao said.
Chang rose to fame in 2003 after winning silver at the World Junior Championships.
He reached the world No. 1 ranking in 2012 after winning the World Pool Billiard Association’s World Eight-ball Championship and was considered one of Taiwan’s most recognized figures in the sport.
Following the news of his death, the national billiards association posted a tribute on social media.
“Thank you for your years of hard work for billiards and bringing honor to the country,” the association said.
Taiwan has received more than US$70 million in royalties as of the end of last year from developing the F-16V jet as countries worldwide purchase or upgrade to this popular model, government and military officials said on Saturday. Taiwan funded the development of the F-16V jet and ended up the sole investor as other countries withdrew from the program. Now the F-16V is increasingly popular and countries must pay Taiwan a percentage in royalties when they purchase new F-16V aircraft or upgrade older F-16 models. The next five years are expected to be the peak for these royalties, with Taiwan potentially earning
STAY IN YOUR LANE: As the US and Israel attack Iran, the ministry has warned China not to overstep by including Taiwanese citizens in its evacuation orders The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rebuked a statement by China’s embassy in Israel that it would evacuate Taiwanese holders of Chinese travel documents from Israel amid the latter’s escalating conflict with Iran. Tensions have risen across the Middle East in the wake of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran beginning Saturday. China subsequently issued an evacuation notice for its citizens. In a news release, the Chinese embassy in Israel said holders of “Taiwan compatriot permits (台胞證)” issued to Taiwanese nationals by Chinese authorities for travel to China — could register for evacuation to Egypt. In Taipei, the ministry yesterday said Taiwan
Taiwan is awaiting official notification from the US regarding the status of the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) after the US Supreme Court ruled US President Donald Trump's global tariffs unconstitutional. Speaking to reporters before a legislative hearing today, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said that Taiwan's negotiation team remains focused on ensuring that the bilateral trade deal remains intact despite the legal challenge to Trump's tariff policy. "The US has pledged to notify its trade partners once the subsequent administrative and legal processes are finalized, and that certainly includes Taiwan," Cho said when asked about opposition parties’ doubts that the ART was
If China chose to invade Taiwan tomorrow, it would only have to sever three undersea fiber-optic cable clusters to cause a data blackout, Jason Hsu (許毓仁), a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator, told a US security panel yesterday. In a Taiwan contingency, cable disruption would be one of the earliest preinvasion actions and the signal that escalation had begun, he said, adding that Taiwan’s current cable repair capabilities are insufficient. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) yesterday held a hearing on US-China Competition Under the Sea, with Hsu speaking on