Taiwan on Friday bagged a bronze medal in the women’s team event at the Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Singapore, earning a spot in the World Gymnastics Championships.
Taiwan scored 147.397 points, behind China (163.529) and South Korea (160.095) at the championships, which are to conclude today at the Singapore Sports Hub’s OCBC Arena.
It is first time a women’s gymnastics team from Taiwan have won a medal at the annual Asian championships.
Photo: CNA
Four gymnasts — Lai Pin-ju, Liao Yi-chun, Lin Yi-chen and Ting Hua-tien — from the six-member team competed in the beam, uneven bars, vault and floor exercise against 10 other teams.
Speaking after the competition, the team said that Lai performed well, despite her recent COVID-19 infection, although there was some room for improvement on the beam.
The team, who finished fourth at last year’s Asian Gymnastics Championships, said they got a boost this year because Japan, who were third last year, did not compete in the women’s team category this year.
One of the Taiwan coaches, former star gymnast Lin Hsiang-wei, said the strategy of putting together a women’s team comprising new and more experienced competitors on the international circuit had paid off.
With their third place finish, the team qualified for the one remaining place in the World Gymnastics Championships, which are scheduled for Sept. 30 to Oct. 8 in Antwerp, Belgium, another Taiwan coach said.
In individual events, Liao, Ting and Lin Guan-yi were to compete on the final two days in the beam, floor and the men’s uneven bars respectively.
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