The Olympic dreams of Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting yesterday ended when she was defeated by Nesthy Petecio of the Philippines and eliminated from the under-57kg category at the Tokyo Games.
The 25-year-old world No. 1, who was competing in her first Olympics, was stunned by Petecio, a former world champion, in a 2-3 split decision in their round-of-16 bout at the Kokugikan Arena.
After three rounds of a closely contested match with no obvious winner, two of the five judges gave Lin the edge, scoring her 29-28, 29-28, while the other three scored in favor of Petecio, 29-28, 29-28, 29-28.
Photo: Reuters
After the bout, Lin said she was disappointed with the loss, adding that she had failed to adapt and adjust to the strategies of the 29-year-old Filipina.
At 175cm, Lin had a height advantage over Petecio, but the 158cm Philippine veteran found it easy to defend herself.
One of the favorites to bring home a medal from Tokyo, Lin said that she did her best, but was outscored by her opponent.
Photo: AP
Lin claimed Taiwan’s first-ever boxing world title at the Women’s Youth World Boxing Championships in Bulgaria in 2013.
In judo, Taiwanese veteran Lien Chen-ling also made an early exit after losing to Kaja Kajzer of Slovenia in the women’s under-57kg category.
In the round-of-16, Lien remained competitive into the “golden score” overtime period, but the Taiwanese was disqualified after her third penalty.
Photo: Reuters
Lien is one of three athletes representing Taiwan in the judo competition in Tokyo, the others being Yang Yung-wei, who won a silver medal in the men’s under-60kg category on Saturday, and Lin Chen-hao.
Lien, who finished fifth in the under-57kg category at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, has trained in Japan after she moved there in 2008.
The 33-year-old is captain of the Komatsu Women’s Judo Team in Japan and in 2015 became the first Taiwanese judoka to win a Grand Prix gold medal when she topped the under-57kg category in Budapest.
In taekwondo, Taiwan’s Liu Wei-ting was knocked out of the round-of-16 of the men’s under-80kg category by Azerbaijan’s Milad Beigi Harchegani.
In weightlifting, Chiang Nien-hsin of Taiwan finished fourth in Group B of the women’s under-55kg competition after lifting 81kg in the snatch and 95kg in the clean and jerk.
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