Taiwan is to secure at least one medal at the Paris Olympics following boxer Wu Shih-yi’s (吳詩儀) quarter-final victory in the women’s 60kg (lightweight) division, while the nation’s male badminton players topped their groups.
Wu defeated Maria Jose Palacios of Ecuador, a Pan American Games bronze medalist last year, by majority decision, with four out of five judges scoring in her favor.
The 26-year-old pugilist is guaranteed to win at least a bronze medal, as there is no bronze-medal match in boxing.
Photo: CNA
The victory was significant for Taiwan.
Wu’s success came after the elimination of three Taiwanese boxers, including Kan Chia-wei (甘佳葳) in the men’s 71kg (welterweight) category on the same day, as well as the exit of top medal hope judoka Yang Yung-wei (楊勇緯) in the men’s 60kg event on Saturday.
Wu made her Olympic debut in Tokyo three years ago, where she struggled with injuries and was eliminated in the round-of-16.
Photo: AFP
This time, after her unanimous victory in the round-of-32 over South Korea’s Oh Yeon-ji, who won a bronze medal at last year’s World Championship, Wu advanced to the quarter-finals after fourth seed Cynthia Ogunsemilore of Nigeria failed a drug test.
Wu today in the semi-finals faces China’s Yang Wenlu (楊文璐), who previously defeated Wu by a unanimous decision en route to gold at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, last year.
“This is not the end, but another beginning,” Wu said.
Photo: AFP
Taiwan’s badminton players had good news in the men’s singles and the men’s doubles, with veteran Chou Tien-chen (周天成) and Tokyo Olympic gold medalists Lee Yang (李洋) and Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) finishing first in their groups, advancing to the round-of-16 and quarter-finals respectively.
Chou, 34, won 21-18, 21-13 against Hong Kong’s Lee Cheuk-yiu (李卓耀) in 44 minutes.
After securing the match point with a smash, Chou pumped his right fist and shouted in celebration.
“I just wanted to boost [Team Taiwan’s] morale,” he said.
Wang shared a similar sentiment after the Taiwanese duo outlasted China’s Liu Yuchen (劉雨辰) and Ou Xuanyi (歐烜屹) in 66 minutes.
Wang lay on the ground and yelled with clenched fists after seeing the shuttlecock land outside of the line to score their final point, coming back from a game down to win 17-21, 21-17, 24-22.
Although Wang had a dip in form over the past two matches, Lee Yang’s clutch performance on Wednesday helped elevate his partner’s game, ELTA TV anchor Lee Yu-ting (李祐廷) said.
Lee Yang and Wang had already secured a quarter-final berth going into the match and they relaxed early in Wednesday’s game.
“I kept telling Chi-lin that as we enter the quarter-finals, we can’t relax too much, we should keep it going,” Lee Yang said after surviving the so-called “group of death.”
Only the top two duos in each group advanced to the quarter-finals, but due to an error by the Badminton World Federation, the international governing body, Group D contained five pairings, one more than the other groups.
In addition to the Chinese world No. 9s, the group included the world No. 2 pairing from Denmark, No. 8 from Japan and No. 45 from the US.
Chou yesterday defeated Japan’s Kodai Naraoka 21-12, 21-16 in 55 minutes in the round-of-16 to advance to the quarter-finals.
The win marked the third time Taiwan’s star shuttler has made it to the quarter-finals at the Olympics. He is scheduled to play in the semi-finals today.
Lee Yang and Wang also advanced to the semis, beating Thailand’s Supak Jomkoh and Kittinupong Kedren 21-14, 21-17.
ONE LAST TALK: While Xi said that Taiwan was a ‘red line,’ Biden, in what is likely his last meeting with Xi as president, called for an end to China’s military activity around Taiwan China’s military intimidation and economic coercion against Taiwan are the main causes of tensions that are destabilizing peace in the Taiwan Strait, Taipei said yesterday while thanking US President Joe Biden for expressing Washington’s firm stance of maintaining peace and stability in the region. Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met on Saturday for their third meeting and their first talks in seven months on the sidelines of the APEC forum in Lima, Peru. It was likely Biden’s last meeting as president with Xi. During their conversation, Biden reiterated the US’ opposition to any unilateral change to the “status quo” from either
Taiwan would participate in the 2026 APEC summit to be hosted by China after Beijing promised it would ensure the personal safety of attendees, Taiwanese national security sources said yesterday. The APEC Leaders’ Machu Picchu Declaration announced yesterday said that China would host the APEC summit in 2026. Beijing proposed hosting the summit shortly before this year’s gathering began on Friday, a national security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Many APEC members expressed concerns about China hosting the event and said that prior communication over the decision was insufficient, the official said. Taiwan brought up concerns about legal “guidelines” China announced in
SUPPORT: Arms sales to NATO Plus countries such as Japan, South Korea and Israel only have to be approved by the US Congress if they exceed US$25m The US should amend a law to add Taiwan to the list of “NATO Plus” allies and streamline future arms sales, a US commission said on Tuesday in its annual report to the US Congress. The recommendation was made in the annual report by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC), which contained chapters on US-China economic and trade ties, security relations, and Taiwan and Hong Kong. In the chapter on Taiwan, the commission urged the US Congress to “amend the Arms Export Control Act of 1976 to include Taiwan on the list of ‘NATO Plus’ recipients,” referring to
Minister of Labor Ho Pei-shan (何佩珊) said she would tender her resignation following criticism of her handling of alleged bullying by Ministry of Labor Workforce Development Agency branch director Hsieh Yi-jung (謝宜容) resulting in the death of an employee. The ministry yesterday gave Hsieh two demerits and said she is subject to review by the Disciplinary Court. The severest possible punishment would be her removal from office and being barred from government jobs indefinitely. Workforce Development Agency Director-General Tsai Meng-liang (蔡孟良) also received a major demerit and was transferred to another position. Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) issued a formal apology
RSS