Taiwan’s men’s archery team yesterday bagged a silver medal after being beaten by South Korea in the gold medal match at the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
South Korea’s three archers were unerringly precise in beating Taiwan 6-0, shooting perfect 10s with 13 of their 18 arrows.
Taiwan’s Tang Chih-chun (湯智鈞), Wei Chun-heng (魏均珩) and Deng Yu-cheng (鄧宇成) posted respectable scores, including six 10s from 18 arrows, but respectable was not enough in a final in which South Korea were at their dominant best.
Photo: AFP
It was the fifth gold medal for South Korea’s men in the team event at the past six Olympic Games.
The silver was the fourth medal Taiwan’s archers have won at an Olympic Games.
After matching Taiwan’s best finish ever in Athens in 2004, Wei remained humble, telling reporters that the team still had much to learn and improve on.
Tang admitted that he was so nervous before the gold medal match that he was shaking badly when he walked into the venue.
“Of course, I wish to have had a better result, [but] I’m quite satisfied,” Deng said.
Their coach, Liu Chan-ming (劉展明), attributed the silver medal to the efforts of the entire Olympic archery squad, including the women’s archery team that was ousted in the opening round a day earlier, for sharing tips on the venue.
“We are the best team,” Liu said.
In the team archery competition, the teams compete in games of six arrows, with each of the three team members firing two arrows. Winning a game earns two points and a tie is worth one point, with the first team to garner five points winning the match.
Taiwan advanced to the gold medal match after eliminating Australia in a shoot-off in the opening round, before topping China 5-1 in the quarter-finals earlier yesterday.
The archers then completed a three-game 6-0 whitewash of the Netherlands with five 10s out of six in the semi-finals to give themselves a shot at Olympic gold for the first time in 17 years.
Wei, Tang and Deng were likely hoping that momentum would carry over to the final, but when South Korea opened with a 59 in the first frame (five 10s and a 9) to Taiwan’s 55 and a perfect 60 in the second game to Taiwan’s 58, it was clear South Korea were headed for gold.
The silver was the third medal overall for Taiwan at this year’s Olympic Games. Table tennis mixed doubles duo Lin Yun-ju (林昀儒) and Cheng I-ching (鄭怡靜) added a bronze medal to the tally later yesterday.
Additional reporting by AP
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
IMPORTANT BACKER: China seeks to expel US influence from the Indo-Pacific region and supplant Washington as the global leader, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said China is preparing for war to seize Taiwan, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said in Washington on Friday, warning that Taiwan’s fall would trigger a regional “domino effect” endangering US security. In a speech titled “Maintaining the Peaceful and Stable Status Quo Across the Taiwan Strait is in Line with the Shared Interests of Taiwan and the United States,” Chiu said Taiwan’s strategic importance is “closely tied” to US interests. Geopolitically, Taiwan sits in a “core position” in the first island chain — an arc stretching from Japan, through Taiwan and the Philippines, to Borneo, which is shared by
RSS