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.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
RSS