Taiwanese athletes yesterday and on Saturday edged closer to winning a medal in a strong showing in the first two days of the Paris Olympics.
Taiwanese badminton ace Tai Tzu-ying (戴資穎) defeated Belgium’s Lianne Tan in the group stage of the women’s singles yesterday.
Although Tai has not played in any professional competitions in the past three months due to injuries and Olympic preparations, the Taiwanese dispatched Tan in a swift 38 minutes, winning 21-15, 21-14.
Photo: CNA
It was Tai’s third consecutive career victory over Tan.
The 30-year-old Taiwanese was next to play longtime friend and rival, Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon, in the group stage.
Per Olympic rules, the first-place athlete in each group advances, but because Tai is in a group with other top-seeded players, the winner of her group advances directly to the quarter-finals.
Photo: AP
In other badminton competition, Tokyo Olympic gold medalists Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and Lee Yang (李洋) opened their men’s doubles campaign with a 21-16, 21-10 victory over Japan’s Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi.
The Taiwanese are today to play Denmark’s Anders Skaarup Rasmussen and Kim Astrup in the next group game.
Meanwhile, Ye Hong-wei (葉宏蔚) and Lee Chia-hsin (李佳馨) lost their mixed doubles opener 21-13, 21-13 to Hong Kong’s Tang Chun Man (鄧俊文) and Tse Ying Suet (謝影雪).
Photo: Reuters
They would have to beat Japan’s Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino after press time last night to have a chance of advancing to the next round.
Taiwan’s female archery delegation yesterday defeated the US 5-1 to advance to the quarter-finals.
However, last night, archers Chiu Yi-ching (邱意晴), Lei Chien-ying (雷千瑩) and Li Tsai-chi (李彩綺) lost to South Korea.
Photo: Reuters
On Saturday, despite having a home advantage, French paddlers Alexis Lebrun and Yuan Jianan (袁嘉楠) fell 4-2 to Taiwan’s Lin Yun-ju (林昀儒) and Chen Szu-yu (陳思羽) in mixed-doubles table tennis.
Taiwan won 11-9, 9-11, 11-5, 12-10, 11-2, 11-7 to advance to the quarter-finals.
In the men’s gymnastics qualifying round for the Olympics, Taiwan’s “King of Cat,” the nation’s horizontal bar standout Tang Chia-hung (唐嘉鴻), advanced to the “all-around finals” after achieving the second-highest score of 14.933.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
He was awarded 6.3 for degree of difficulty and 8.633 for execution.
Tokyo bronze medalist Huang Hsiao-wen (黃筱雯) advanced to the round of 16 in the women’s 54kg (bantamweight) boxing division after defeating Montenegro’s Bojana Gojkovic by unanimous decision.
However, Tokyo Olympics judo silver medalist Yang Yung-wei (楊勇緯) lost out on the chance to vie for Olympic bronze in the men’s under-60kg event after being defeated by Japan’s Ryuju Nagayama by waza-ari in the repechage.
As the No. 1 seed, Yang passed the round of 32 on a bye and outlasted Italy’s Andrea Carlino in the “golden score,” before heading into the repechage following his loss to Yeldos Smetov of Kazakhstan in the quarter-final.
However, the 26-year-old Yang failed to secure victory over Nagayama, whom he had lost to in all their previous four matches.
Judoka Lin Chen-hao (林真豪) was also knocked out in the round of 16 in the women’s under-48kg division by Abiba Abuzhakynova of Kazakhstan.
Lin Chen-hao, 26, who finished seventh in Tokyo, left the court with tears in her eyes.
Taiwan’s last chance of winning a medal in the sport lies with veteran Lien Chen-ling (連珍羚). The Hangzhou Asian Games gold medalist is to compete in the women’s under-57kg event today.
Tropical Storm Gaemi strengthened into a typhoon at 2pm yesterday, and could make landfall in Yilan County tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The agency was scheduled to issue a sea warning at 11:30pm yesterday, and could issue a land warning later today. Gaemi was moving north-northwest at 4kph, carrying maximum sustained winds near its center of up to 118.8kph and gusts of 154.8kph. The circumference is forecast to reach eastern Taiwan tomorrow morning, with the center making landfall in Yilan County later that night before departing from the north coast, CWA weather forecaster Kuan Shin-ping (官欣平) said yesterday. Uncertainty remains and
DISRUPTIONS: The high-speed rail is to operate as normal, while several airlines either canceled flights or announced early departures or late arrivals Schools and offices in 15 cities and counties are to be closed today due to Typhoon Gaemi, local governments announced last night. The 15 are: Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Tainan, Keelung, Hsinchu and Kaohsiung, as well as Yilan, Hualien, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang counties. People should brace for torrential rainfall brought by the storm, with its center forecast to make landfall on the east coast between tonight and tomorrow morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The agency issued a sea warning for the typhoon at 11:30pm on Monday, followed by a land warning at 11:30am yesterday. As of
CASUALTY: A 70-year-old woman was killed by a falling tree in Kaohsiung as the premier warned all government agencies to remain on high alert for the next 24 hours Schools and offices nationwide are to be closed for a second day today as Typhoon Gaemi crosses over the nation, bringing torrential rain and whipping winds. Gaemi was forecast to make landfall late last night. From Tuesday night, its outer band brought substantial rainfall and strong winds to the nation. As of 6:15pm last night, the typhoon’s center was 20km southeast of Hualien County, Central Weather Administration (CWA) data showed. It was moving at 19kph and had a radius of 250km. As of 3pm yesterday, one woman had died, while 58 people were injured, the Central Emergency Operation Center said. The 70-year-old
SEA SEARCH: Nine crew members of a cargo ship had taken to the water after the vessel sunk off the southern coast, with a rescue effort under way, officials said The strongest typhoon to hit Taiwan in eight years yesterday killed three people and flooded parts of the nation’s second-biggest city, while rescuers were searching for nine sailors after their cargo ship sank in the storm. Typhoon Gaemi transformed streets in Kaohsiung into rivers, with some households flooded. Offices and schools were closed for the second consecutive day, with thousands of people evacuated. Three people died and 380 were injured due to strong winds and torrential rainfall brought by Typhoon Gaemi, the Central Emergency Response Center said. The typhoon made landfall in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳) at midnight yesterday and departed Taiwan