When Taiwan’s budding taekwondo star Lin Wan-ting made her international debut at the East Asian Games in October last year, her sights were already set on winning a gold medal at the Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea.
Yesterday, she fell just short of that ambition, claiming a silver medal in the women’s 46kg class after losing 10-4 in the final to world No. 1 Kim So-hui of South Korea.
The 18-year-old, who shocked Kim in the round-of-16 at the Asian Championships in May, beating her 8-7, kept pace with her South Korean rival through two scoreless rounds and through much of the final round, when the two traded penalty points and kicks.
Photo: AFP
However, an aggressive attacking move by Kim with about 30 seconds left put Lin on the defensive and resulted in a three-point kick to the Taiwanese’s head to put the South Korean up 6-3.
Kim then clinched the win in the final seconds with a four-point reverse kick to Lin’s face that was granted after a challenge by Kim’s coach.
Lin, who finished third at the Asian Championships, did well to get to the final.
Photo: Reuters
She beat Asian champion Panipak Wongpattanakit of Thailand in the semi-finals, 5-4, after building a 5-1 lead and then holding off the hard-charging Thai in the final 30 seconds, conceding just three points.
Meanwhile, in softball, Taiwan’s women’s team lost their semi-final against Japan 6-1, setting up a bronze-medal match against the Philippines, who lost their semi-final 3-0 to China.
In the basketball, Taiwan’s women also lost to China, going down 75-63 to set up a bronze-medal clash with Japan, who were edged 58-53 by South Korea.
Photo: AFP
In the canoe kayak obstacle slalom quarter-finals, Taiwan’s Chang Yun-chuan defeated South Korea’s Oh Yea-chan in the canoe single men’s class to make the semi-finals, while fellow Taiwanese Chang Chu-han defeated Singapore’s Annabella Ng to progress to the semis of the kayak single women’s class.
Taiwan’s rugby team finally got a victory yesterday when they defeated Lebanon 54-5 in their final group game, before crashing to a 57-0 defeat to Japan in the quarters.
Additional reporting by Dave Carroll
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and partner Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia yesterday advanced to the women’s doubles final at the Australian Open after defeating New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe and Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 6-3 in their semi-final. Hsieh has won nine Grand Slam doubles titles and has a shot at a 10th tomorrow, when the Latvian-Taiwanese duo are to play Taylor Townsend of the US and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic in the championship match at the A$96.5 million (US$61 million) outdoor hard court tournament at Melbourne Park. Townsend and Siniakova eliminated Russian pair Diana Shnaider and Mirra Andreeva 6-7
Manchester City have reached do-or-die territory in the UEFA Champions League earlier than expected ahead of what Pep Guardiola has described as a “final” against Club Brugge today. City have disproved the suggestion a new format to Europe’s top club competition would remove any jeopardy for the top clubs as Guardiola stares down the barrel of failing to make the Champions League knockout stages for the first time in his career. The English champions have endured a torrid season both in their English Premier League title defense and on the continent. A run of one win in 13 games, which included Champions League
FINAL WEEK LOOMS: PSG rose to 22nd place to set up another tense challenge against 24th-placed Stuttgart, while Man City require victory against Club Brugge Manchester City are on the brink of a humiliating UEFA Champions League exit after a stunning loss to Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday, while Real Madrid is no longer at risk after routing Salzburg. Man City blew a two-goal lead in a high-stakes clash of super-wealthy underachievers that PSG won 4-2 in Paris, who could still be eliminated alongside the English champions after the final round of games next week. Only the top 24 in the 36-team standings are to advance. Man City, the 2023 champions, are in 25th place, but could squeeze into the knockout playoffs round by beating Club Brugge. “We will
Things are somewhat out of control at the Australian Open this year, and that has only a little to do with the results on the courts. Yes, there were some upsets, including Madison Keys eliminating No. 2 Iga Swiatek in the women’s singles semi-finals on Thursday. It also was the first time since 1990 that three teenagers beat top-10 men’s seeds at a Grand Slam tennis tournament. The loser of one of those matches, Daniil Medvedev, got fined US$76,000 for behaving badly. Last year’s women’s singles runner-up exited in the first round. However, the real fuss is happening elsewhere. The rowdy fans, for one
RSS