“Gymnast genie” Ting Hua-tien turned 17 on Oct. 11, and has just received a belated birthday gift. She has officially been awarded accreditation by the Federation Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG, International Federation of Gymnastics) for a modified gymnastics move, given a “D” level of difficulty and named after her. Ting is the first Taiwanese to have ever achieved this.
There have been previous attempts by Taiwanese gymnasts to have moves they have developed named after them. Lin Hsiang-wei has tried to register the “Lin Hsiang-wei turn” on the pommel horse and “Pommel Horse King” Lee Chih-kai this year also applied. Unfortunately, in the end neither attempt proved successful.
Ting performed her new move for the first time in an international competition at this year’s Artistic Gymnastics World Cup in Melbourne. Since the move was a modified element of a longer routine, Ting was the first person in the world to actually perform it, and coach Tsai Heng-cheng decided to apply for it to be named after Ting before anyone else could do so, so that its level of difficulty could be reflected in the scoring.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Liberty Times
照片:自由時報記者林正堃攝
After a long wait, the FIG finally officially announced that the move would be written into the history books as the “Ting Hua-tien move.” Now gymnasts from around the world can start applying the move in their routines in competitions.
According to Tsai, “The Ting Hua-tien routine is an extension of an original move, and I thought she performed it particularly well and that we could use it in international competitions. Then, during the Asian Championships one of the judges suggested that we apply for it to be named after her, and now it has been officially recognized, and become another element for us to include.”
Ting has made a name for herself in Taiwanese gymnastics this year: in addition to having a move named after her, she also qualified in this year’s 2019 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships for the Tokyo Olympics, making her the first Taiwanese female gymnast in 51 years to qualify for the games.
Photo courtesy of Tsai Heng-cheng
照片:蔡恆政教練提供
(Translated by Paul Cooper, Taipei Times)
體操精靈」丁華恬在十月十一日滿十七歲,近日終於收到遲來的生日大禮,憑藉改良後的地板動作,正式獲國際體操總會認可,未來有一D難度動作以「丁華恬」為名,成為台灣第一人。
台灣過去有多名選手開發新動作並申請命名,鞍馬好手林祥威以「林祥威轉體」及聲勢如日中天的「鞍馬王子」李智凱在今年進行申請,可惜兩人最終未能如願寫下歷史。
丁華恬在今年世界盃墨爾本站首次在國際賽展現新動作,即使該動作屬透過改良並延伸出的另種套路,正好是世界第一位使用的選手,為了讓動作難度被承認及加分,教練蔡恆政才決定搶先申請命名。
經過許久等待,FIG近日終於正式公告確定「丁華恬」為名之動作能在歷史留名,目前各國選手也有人開始採「丁華恬」動作進行比賽。
蔡恆政透露:「丁華恬這套動作是從原有動作進行延伸,起初只想說做起來不錯,也能在國際賽使用,而當時在澳洲大獎賽有裁判建議我們申請命名,最後確定獲總會認證,成為意外的插曲。」
丁華恬是今年台灣體操最風光的女將,除了動作獲認可及命名,她在今年世錦賽搶下台灣相隔51年首張奧運女子體操入場券。
(自由時報)
Taiwan wants to lure higher-spending travelers from Southeast Asia as Chinese arrivals dwindle, a shift that could reshape the island’s tourism industry. Despite increasingly fraught relations across the strait, visitors from across Asia, and Southeast Asia in particular, are traveling to Taiwan in greater numbers than before the pandemic, first-quarter data from Taiwan’s Tourism Administration show. The number of Thai visitors has risen 12 percent from the same period in 2019, according to the travel body, while Singapore’s is up 10 percent and Malaysia’s has reached pre-COVID levels. Hotel revenues and the number of local travel agencies have returned to where they were
Voice acting is the art of bringing animated characters to life through voice. Without the expressive performance of the voice actor, a character would lack emotion and realism. However, the voice acting industry is now witnessing a couple of distinct shifts. In Japan, voice actors, known as seiyuu, are evolving into multi-talented idols. Beyond their traditional behind-the-scenes roles in recording booths, seiyuu may need to engage in media interactions, host fan events, release music albums and perform live concerts. This expansion into various entertainment sectors has raised seiyuu’s status to that of mainstream celebrities. Some famous examples include Nana Mizuki and
A: The “Big Three” in tennis can no longer dominate the Wimbledon Championships. B: Roger Federer retired two years ago, Rafael Nadal is skipping the tournament, and Novak Djokovic just had surgery. A: Federer has won 20 Grand Slam men’s singles titles, and Nadal has won 22 titles. B: Djokovic has won 24 titles. Together, the trio have dominated tennis for over two decades. A: Is the “Big Three” era coming to an end? A: 今年的溫布頓錦標賽,網球「三巨頭」恐怕風光不再。 B: 費德勒前年宣布退休,納達爾這次不參賽,喬科維奇則剛動過手術。 A: 費德勒有20座大滿貫冠軍,納達爾也有22座冠軍。 B: 喬科維奇則有24座,三大球王已稱霸網壇20多年! A:「三巨頭」的時代終於要落幕了嗎? (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
A: What are some other highlights at the Wimbledon Championships? B: I’m looking forward to Taiwanese tennis queen Hsieh Su-wei’s matches. A: Hsieh has performed amazingly this year, and has even reclaimed the World No. 1 title in women’s doubles since March. B: And she’s a four-time champion at Wimbledon, having won the women’s doubles title in 2013, 2019, 2021 and 2023. A: Let’s hope she can snatch another Grand Slam title. A: 今年的溫布頓錦標賽還有哪些看點呢? B: 台灣球后謝淑薇也很令人期待。 A: 她在今年三月重返女雙世界第一寶座真厲害。 B: 她於2013、2019、2021、2023,四度在溫網女雙奪冠。 A: 希望她在今年也能打出好成績! (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)