Chen I-chun (陳怡君) yesterday clinched Taiwan’s first Deaflympics gold of these Games by defeating Greece’s Vasiliki Zapanti-Fragkou 8-0 in the women’s taekwondo under-49kg category just three seconds into round two of the final.
Chen’s swift upper kicks grabbed two points 25 seconds into the first round, quickly followed by another two after 1 minute, 4 seconds. Chen eventually finished the round with a 6-0 lead.
Using the same aggressive offensive strategy in round two — focusing her kicks on the upper torso — the 22-year-old soon secured the medal, ending the match early.
PHOTO: CHANG CHIA-MING, TAIPEI TIMES
Chen’s major confidence booster came after beating South Korea’s Bae Yi-seul, her most feared foe, 1-0 in the preliminary round, said her coach Chou Kuei-ming (周桂名), who added that Chen’s 1.68m height and her flexibility are her biggest advantages.
Only four women competed in the event.
The college sophomore, who was born almost two-months premature and deaf, dropped out of taekwondo during her high school years to try track and field, but her less-than-ideal performance as a runner prompted her to return to the sport.
PHOTO: CHANG CHIA-MING, TAIPEI TIMES
After three years of intense training since returning to the sport, Chen won a bronze in last year’s World Deaf Martial Arts Championships in France.
“I was actually really tired after the first match, but the enthusiasm of the crowd motivated me to keep going,” Chen said.
Chen’s win also means she receives NT$1.8 million (US$55,000) in cash, which her mother said would be used to pay for the overseas education her daughter has been dreaming of for a long time.
PHOTO: LIN CHENG-KUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
Chen’s teammate, 20-year-old Tseng Wei (曾偉), however, did not have such a good day in the men’s under-58kg category after he lost 0-7 to his Uzbek rival Davron Khidrov in the preliminary round.
The taekwondo team hopes to grab another gold when Lin Bo-cong (林柏聰), the champion from the 2008 Invitational Games for the Deaf in Taipei, competes this afternoon in the under-68kg category against Hong Kong’s Chow Chun Kin.
The men’s table tennis team also performed well yesterday, enjoying two victories, against Croatia 3-0 and Russia 3-1.
PHOTO: LO PEI-DER, TAIPEI TIMES
Other good news for the hosts included the men’s group badminton team, who bagged a breezy 5-0 win against Hong Kong in the morning, but the day turned sour in the afternoon when they lost 2-3 to last year’s champions, South Korea.
Taiwan will face off against Britain tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Taiwanese 10m air rifle marksman Huang Cheng-hao (黃正豪) performed better than expected, but managed only seventh place as Switzerland’s Thomas Mosching grabbed the gold medal, the first of the Games.
PHOTO: LO PEI-DER, TAIPEI TIMES
Huang’s coach, however, was not discouraged and praised the shooter for making steady progress under pressure, adding that Huang’s performance yesterday was unprecedented.
In other sports, Taiwan’s women’s basketball team were thumped by the reigning champions the US 14-96. Poor coordination among the players was the major reason behind the low score, coach Teng Bi-chen (鄧碧珍) said, saying that losing to the US was expected and promising that the team would regroup for the match against China tomorrow.
In men’s 1,000m sprint cycling, Paul Wood took home the US’ first gold, leaving teammate and two-time Deaflympics champion Trevor Kosa back in fifth place.
Confusion ensued at the volleyball court when the organizing committee failed to inform people of a change of start time for the Taiwan-Russia game, leaving the media and spectators high and dry.
Several fans also complained about the lack of sign language interpreters on site.
The game has been postponed to Thursday. Organizers advised spectators to check the official Web site for the latest schedule.
PLA MANEUVERS: Although Beijing has yet to formally announce military drills, its coast guard vessels have been spotted near and around Taiwan since Friday The Taiwanese military is on high alert and is closely monitoring the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) air and naval deployments after Beijing yesterday reserved seven airspace areas east of its Zhejiang and Fujian provinces through Wednesday. Beijing’s action was perceived as a precursor to a potential third “Joint Sword” military exercise, which national security experts said the PLA could launch following President William Lai’s (賴清德) state visits to the nation’s three Pacific allies and stopovers in Hawaii and Guam last week. Unlike the Joint Sword military exercises in May and October, when Beijing provided detailed information about the affected areas, it
CHINA: The activities come amid speculation that Beijing might launch military exercises in response to Lai’s recent visit to Pacific allies The Ministry of National Defense (MND) yesterday said China had nearly doubled the number of its warships operating around the nation in the previous 24 hours, ahead of what security sources expect would be a new round of war games. China’s military activities come amid speculation Beijing might organize military drills around the nation in response to President William Lai’s (賴清德) recent visit to Pacific allies, including stops in Hawaii and Guam, a US territory. Lai returned from the week-long trip on Friday night. Beijing has held two rounds of war games around Taiwan this year, and sends ships and military planes
Five flights have been arranged to help nearly 2,000 Taiwanese tourists return home from Okinawa after being stranded due to cruise ship maintenance issues, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications announced yesterday. China Airlines Ltd (中華航空), and EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) have arranged five flights with a total of 748 additional seats to transport 1,857 passengers from the MSC Bellissima back to Taiwan, the ministry said. The flights have been scheduled for yesterday and today by the Civil Aviation Administration, with the cruise operator covering all associated costs. The MSC Bellissima, carrying 4,341 passengers, departed from Keelung on Wednesday last week for Okinawa,
US president-elect Donald Trump said he would “never say” if Washington is committed to defending Taiwan from China, but “I would prefer that they do not do it [ an attack],” adding that he has a “good relationship” with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). “I never say because I have to negotiate things, right?” Trump said in an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press host Kristen Welker after saying he would not reveal his incoming administration’s stance on Taiwan’s defense in the event of an attack. Asked the question again, Trump, in a reference to China, said: “I would prefer that they
RSS