Taiwan’s Wei Chen-yang won gold in taekwondo at the Asian Games yesterday, the nation’s second in the sport and sixth overall.
Wei edged out Thailand’s Pen-Ek Karaket in the final of men’s under-58kg division to clinch gold.
The two athletes were tied 2-2 after the regulation three rounds and when neither scored a point in the extra round, Wei was given the decision on superiority.
PHOTO: WANG YI-SUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
Wei had a relatively easy road to the finals. He defeated Cambodia’s Bouthorn Chhoy 14-1 in the opening round, Uzbekistan’s Rustamjon Pulatov 7-1 in the quarter-finals and Paul Romero of the Philippines in the semi-finals, when Romero withdrew with 17 seconds left in the final round after Wei had built a 5-0 lead.
It was Taiwan’s second gold medal in taekwondo after Huang Hsien-yung won gold in the women’s under-46kg division on Wednesday.
Hsu Chia-lin also picked up a bronze for Taiwan in the men’s under-54kg division.
PHOTO: SAM YEH, AFP
Taiwan’s golfers also earned three bronze medals yesterday, finishing third in the men’s and women’s team events and in the men’s individual tournament.
Taiwan’s Hung Chien-yao shot a three-under 69 in the final round of the men’s individual tournament to finish at five-under, two shots ahead of golfers from Thailand, India and the Philippines, who had all started the day with or ahead of him on the leaderboard.
South Korea’s Kim Meen-whee crushed the field with a 15-under 273 to take gold. The silver went to Miguel Luis Tabuena of the Philippines, who finished a stroke ahead of Hung after he parred the 18th hole and Hung bogeyed it.
South Korea swept all four gold medals in the golf, winning the men’s and women’s team events and the men’s and women’s individual tournaments.
Taiwan also won a medal in badminton, the nation’s first in the sport since it returned to the Asian Games in 1990.
Taiwan’s Cheng Wen-hsing and Chen Hung-ling earned a bronze medal in the mixed doubles after losing to Chinese pair Zhao Yunlei and Zhang Nan 21-16, 21-15.
It was a bad day for Taiwan’s tennis players, though.
China’s Peng Shuai reached the last four of the women’s singles by defeating Taiwan’s Chang Kai-chen in a clash plagued by 89 unforced errors, which the Chinese star blamed on bright sunshine.
Peng, seeking to add singles gold to the women’s team title she captured with Li Na, won 6-2, 7-6 (7/1) and will tackle top seed Kimiko Date Krumm of Japan for a place in the gold medal match.
Date Krumm saw off battling South Korean Lee Jin-a 7-6 (7/2), 7-5.
Big-hitting Uzbek Akgul Amanmuradova needed three sets to beat Japan’s Ayumi Morita 6-2, 2-6, 6-2 and will next face India’s Sania Mirza, who comfortably defeated Thai veteran Tamarine Tanasugarn 6-2, 6-3.
In the men’s third round, top seed Uzbek Denis Istomin breezed past Jeong Suk-young of South Korea 6-3, 6-4, while Thailand’s defending champion Danai Udomchoke edged Taiwan’s Yang Tsung-hua 7-5, 7-5.
Second seed Somdev Devverman defeated Uzbekistan’s Vaja Uzakov 6-1, 6-1 and next meets China’s Zhang Ze, who beat South Korea’s Cho Soong-jae 6-4, 6-4.
Karan Rastogi was a 6-0, 6-4 winner over Taiwan’s Chen Ti and faces Istomin in the quarter-finals.
The next generation of running talent takes center stage at today’s Berlin Marathon, in the absence of stars including Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge and Ethiopian world record holder Tigist Assefa. With most of the major marathon stars skipping the event in the wake of the Paris Olympics just more than a month ago, the field is wide open in the men’s and women’s races. Since 2015, Kipchoge has won five times in Berlin, Kenenisa Bekele has won twice and Guye Adola once — with all three missing today. Kenyan Kibiwott Kandie and Ethiopian Tadese Takele are among the favourites for the men, while
Taiwan’s Tony Wu yesterday beat Mackenzie McDonald of the US to win the Nonthaburi Challenger IV in Thailand, his first challenger victory since 2022. The 26-year-old world No. 315, who won both his qualifiers to advance to the main draw, has been on a hot streak this month, winning his past nine matches, including two that ensured Taiwan’s victory in their Davis Cup World Group I tie. Wu took just more than two hours to top world No. 172 McDonald 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) to win his second challenger tournament since the Tallahassee Tennis Challenger in 2022. Wu’s Tallahassee win followed two years of
Zhang Shuai yesterday said that she nearly quit after losing 24 matches in a row — now the world No. 595 is into the quarter-finals of her home China Open. The 35-year-old is to face Spain’s Paula Badosa as the lowest-ranked player to reach this stage in the history of the tournament after Badosa reeled off 11 of the last 12 games in a 6-4, 6-0 victory over US Open finalist Jessica Pegula. Zhang went into Beijing on a barren run lasting more than 600 days and her string of singles defeats was the second-longest on the WTA Tour Open era, which
Nick Castellanos, Trea Turner and Kody Clemens homered on Wednesday as the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Chicago Cubs 9-6 and clinched a first-round bye in the playoffs. Castellanos had three hits and scored three times. Bryson Stott also had three hits and Brandon Marsh drove in three runs for the Phillies, who on Monday claimed their first National League East title in 13 years. Coupled with the Milwaukee Brewers’ 2-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia secured the bye and home-field advantage in the NL Division Series. The Phillies owned the tiebreaker with the Brewers after winning the season series against the