Taiwan's women's tug of war team won the gold medal in the senior 520kg division in the World Indoor Championships held in Faenza, Italy, on Saturday, Chinese Taipei Tug of War Association officials said yesterday.
The team, made up mainly of athletes from the Taipei Physical Education College, defeated semi-finalists China in two straight games to win gold in the senior 520kg women's division, the officials said.
Taiwan, which won world championships in competitions held in Ireland in 2006 and Germany in 2005, was expected to continue its powerful performance to win another championship in the senior 480kg women's category yesterday, the officials said.
Saturday's win qualified the team to take part in the World Games 2009 in Kaohsiung, the officials said.
The six top teams in the senior women's 520kg category will be eligible to compete in the 2009 World Games, they said. The five other qualifying teams are China, Japan, England, Scotland and Ukraine.
The World Games were first held in Santa Clara, US, in 1981. Taiwan has won 14 gold medals, 14 silver medals and 15 bronze medals in official sports at the World Games. Taiwan has also won two golds and one silver medal in demonstration sports at the Games.
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