Taiwan’s taekwondo golden couple came up short yesterday at the Beijing Science and Technology University Gymnasium, although Chu Mu-yen (朱木炎) did manage to win a bronze medal.
This makes him the most decorated Olympian in the country’s history, after he won gold in Athens four years ago in the same 58kg class. Pressure seemed to sap the spirit from Chu and his girlfriend, Yang Shu-chun (楊淑君), who were widely expected to win golds.
Yang, 22, scrapped to a 1-0 victory in her first 49kg fight, in the morning, and dispatched her Iranian opponent 2-0 to reach the semi-final.
But China’s Wu Jingyu (吳靜鈺), her great rival, was just too aggressive and powerful to overcome.
Backed by the home crowd, Wu got off to a good start and gave Yang little chance to recover. It was a reverse of the victory Yang had against Wu in May’s Asian Championship.
Then, in the bronze medal matchup, Daynellis Montejo of Cuba just beat Yang with a winning point in the extra round when it finished 3-3 in the third.
After the bout concluded and the formalities were over, a teary-eyed Yang fled the gymnasium.
Chu, on the other hand, managed to hang tough after losing to Yulis Gabriel Mercedes of the Dominican Republic 3-2 in the quarter-final.
The whole crowd seemed surprised at the loss, but in his bronze medal match Chu fought better, winning convincingly against Thailand’s Chutchawal Khawlaor 4-2.
The mainly Chinese audience called out his name and cheered a pleased-looking Chu.
Both Chu and Yang seemed tight in their key matches. Taiwanese Olympic delegation leader Tsai Szu-chueh (蔡賜爵) said the pressure got to them.
“Chu had a lot of pressure because he was defending his title and there were a lot of expectations on him,” Tsai said. “Today his fighting strategies were too conservative and he did not attack enough.”
Chu said he was also surprised to lose against Mercedes, adding he was a difficult opponent who kept falling back or over when he attacked and this confounded his fight strategy.
Outside the gymnasium it was a lockout for many Taiwanese, who couldn’t get tickets for the contests.
Inside there were scattered Chinese Taipei flags. Patty Tsai (蔡佩娟) and her colleague Yik Puiching (易佩貞) live and work in Beijing and had to make by hand their hats, stickers and banners supporting the nation.
The two advertising film executives said they were disappointed at Taiwan’s poor performance in taekwondo and baseball.
“But we still want to show our care and sincerity. We believe the athletes tried their best. There’s no point being bitter, we must just work harder,” Tsai said.
Tsai Szu-chueh said it was still possible to win two gold medals, to add to the nation’s three bronze, as he fancied Taiwan’s chances in the second round of the taekwondo competition today.
TO FINAL FOUR: France had 22 chances and scored two goals, while Croatia could not manage a single shot on target in 120 minutes. Les Bleus won 5-4 on penalties France on Sunday overturned a two-goal deficit to qualify for the UEFA Nations League Final Four by eliminating Croatia 5-4 on penalties after a 2-0 victory in their quarter-final second leg at the Stade de France. Dayot Upamecano scored the winning spot kick in a nail-biting shootout in which France keeper Mike Maignan made two saves, sending Les Bleus into the semi-finals against Spain. Michael Olise opened the scoring and Ousmane Dembele doubled their lead 10 minutes from time to send the tie into extra time after their 2-0 loss in Split, Croatia, on Thursday. France had a total of
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
BRING THE NOISE: Brazil’s Fonseca attracted a boisterous crowd that brought such dominant soccer-style energy the referee switched to Portuguese to ask for quiet Australia’s Alex de Minaur on Monday put an end to Brazilian talent Joao Fonseca’s challenge at the Miami Open, outlasting the 18-year-old 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 in an enthralling contest. Attendance on stadium court had been sparse throughout the day, but the Hard Rock Stadium turned into a mini-Maracana Stadium for Fonseca’s match, complete with Brazilian flags and soccer-style chanting. Fonseca brought his energetic brand of ultra-attacking tennis, but De Minaur was up to the challenge, coping with blistering forehands and a partisan crowd. Such was the dominance of Fonseca’s raucous support that the referee switched to Portuguese for his appeals for quiet. However, De
RSS