Standing alongside Taiwan’s top hearing-impaired athletes, Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin fired a shot into the air at a press conference on Thursday to mark the beginning of the city’s Year of the Deaflympics, the biggest sports event to be hosted by the country’s capital.
Emile Sheng, chairman of the Research, Development and Evaluation Commission under the Taipei City Government and CEO of the 21st Summer Deaflympics Organizing Committee, said the city would arrange publicity activities on a monthly basis to advertise the event, inviting renowned athletes to Taiwan to promote awareness of the Games.
Other activities being planned include various performances in the Taipei arena, as well as street parades, he said.
‘TRULY INTERNATIONAL’
Hau expressed hope that Taipei “will become a truly international city” through the Games, which will take place between Sept. 5 and Sept. 15, as well as through “the passion, friendliness and warmth of Taipei’s citizens.”
He noted that playing host to international events is one of the best tools to promote the visibility of a city, and that this year’s Summer Deaflympics, with its slogan “Power in Me,” demonstrates the government’s resolve in this regard.
As Taiwan ranked fifth among all the participating countries in the last Deaflympics held in Melbourne, Australia, with nine gold medals, four silvers and three bronzes, the mayor said he had “great confidence” in Taiwan’s competing athletes.
Hau expressed hope that the athletes would achieve even better results this year because of their home field advantage, while Dana Tai, minister of the Sports Affairs Council, said that prizes for Taiwanese medalists this year would be higher than those given after the Melbourne Games.
She said a gold medalist this year will receive more than NT$1 million (US$30,432), a rise from the previous award amount of NT$750,000.
THE POWER OF TAIPEI
In addition, the event’s art director Stan Lai, expressed his faith that the opening and closing ceremonies he is in charge of organizing “will allow the whole world to witness Taipei’s power and strength.”
The organizing committee said the 20 events of the Deaflympics would be held in 27 venues scattered around Taipei City and Taipei County, while the swimming events will take place in Hsinchu County and the shooting events would be held in Taoyuan County, both in northern Taiwan.
Around 4,000 athletes from 81 countries are expected to compete, the organizer said.
New Taipei Kings guard Jeremy Lin on Friday was named the Taiwan Professional Basketball League’s (TPBL) Player of the Month, the first domestic player to win the award, while the Hsinchu Toplus Lioneers are to welcome their third head coach in less than a year. Lin averaged 22 points, 5.4 rebounds and 6.6 assists over five games in October and last month, helping the Kings to second in the standings with a 4-2 record as of Friday. The Kings last night defeated the Lioneers 96-78 to move level with the top-of-the-table Formosa Dreamers (5-2), while in the night game, the New Taipei
‘REMARKABLE’: Gaelic football is a traditional Irish sport that blends the skills of soccer and rugby, and hurling is an ancient sport played with a wooden stick and ‘sliotar’ The Taiwan Celts Gaelic Football Club marked a milestone achievement at the Asian Gaelic Games in Bangkok on Nov. 23 and 24, with two sides advancing to the knockout stages and competing at hurling for the first time. The event brought together 68 teams from 16 clubs across Asia, with more than 800 players in men’s and women’s tournaments. Gaelic football is a traditional Irish team sport that blends the skills of soccer, rugby union and basketball. Hurling is an ancient Irish sport played with a wooden stick, called a hurley, and a small ball, or sliotar. The Taiwan Celts’ women’s team reached
LIVERPOOL WIN: The 50th Champions League goal by Mohamed Salah helped the leaders of the Premier League to keep their perfect record intact Real Madrid’s big stars on Tuesday turned on the style to revive the Spanish giant’s faltering UEFA Champions League title defense. Galacticos Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham all scored in a thrilling 3-2 win against Serie A leaders Atalanta BC. However, Madrid still had to ride their luck as Mateo Retegui fired over from in front of goal in stoppage-time when handed a golden chance to level the game. It was only Madrid’s third win in the competition’s revamped league phase and leaves the 15-time champions in the unseeded playoff positions in 18th place. “It’s a very important win. Not everyone wins
TO NO AVAIL: The Denver Nuggets’ Serbian center Nikola Jokic surpassed his 53-point performance in the 2023 Western Conference semi-finals against Phoenix The Washington Wizards withstood a 56-point explosion from Denver star Nikola Jokic to beat the Nuggets 122-113 on Saturday and snap their 16-game NBA losing streak. Jokic, who won his third NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) award last season, posted a career scoring high — surpassing a 53-point performance in game four of the 2023 Western Conference semi-finals against Phoenix and a 50-point regular-season best against Sacramento in 2021. The Serbian big man added 16 rebounds and eight assists, but it was all to no avail as Washington, buoyed by 39 points from Jordan Poole, won for the first time
RSS