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.
READY TO GO: Lin, who got a first-round bye and is to compete in the round of 16 on Friday, said all she can do is ‘ignore what the haters say’ and focus on her bouts Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting, who was stripped of her bronze medal at last year’s International Boxing Association (IBA) Women’s World Boxing Championships after failing a gender eligibility test, has been cleared to compete in Paris, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Monday. Lin and Imane Khelif of Algeria, who had both been disqualified at the world championship in New Delhi in March last year, have complied with all rules to fight at the Games, the IOC said. They are now to compete in their second Summer Games, after both finishing outside the podium at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. “All athletes participating
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