Taiwanese table tennis prodigy Chen Po-yen claimed silver in the men’s singles TT11 category at the Paris Paralympics on Thursday while fighting through cramping in his right leg.
Although Chen expressed disappointment with the defeat, he said he had relished the Paralympic experience and vowed to aim for gold at the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
Aged just 17, Chen is the youngest member of Taiwan’s Paralympic delegation.
Photo: CNA
In his debut on the global stage, he impressed fans by defeating Belgium’s Florian van Acker, the 2016 Rio Paralympics gold medalist, and Hungary’s Peter Palos, a two-time Paralympic champion, to secure a spot in the final.
Chen faced South Korea’s Kim Gi-tae in the gold-medal match and quickly won the first game 11-3.
However, his performance was affected after he was hit with a cramp in his right leg and he narrowly lost the subsequent games, 13-15, 7-11 and 9-11, meaning he had to settle for silver.
Photo: CNA
In a post-match interview, Chen described his performance as “not bad,” and that he played with a relaxed mindset in the first game.
However, the cramp threw him off balance, despite his coach Wei Chun-ta massaging his leg to relieve some of the cramping.
Chen said the defeat was unfortunate, but he remained positive, saying, “It’s a bit disappointing, but I thoroughly enjoyed competing here. I’ll aim to win the gold next time.”
Wei, who has been training Chen for more than five years, said that Chen still has room to grow, both mentally and technically.
Wei said he appreciated the support from training partners, medical staff, nutritionists and the enthusiastic fans cheering Chen on.
“Our athletes are incredibly fortunate, and we’ll continue pushing forward,” he said.
The NHL postponed the Los Angeles Kings’ home game against the Calgary Flames on Wednesday with several massive wildfires burning across the greater Los Angeles area. The Kings and Flames were scheduled to play on Wednesday night at the Kings’ downtown arena. The NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers were scheduled to host the Charlotte Hornets in the same arena last night. “Our hearts are with our entire Los Angeles community,” the Kings said in a statement. “We appreciate the hard working first responders who are diligently working to contain the fire and protect our community. We appreciate the league’s support in keeping our
Doping fears prevented former US Open champion Emma Raducanu from treating insect bites on the eve of the Australian Open, she said, with players increasingly wary about ingesting contaminated substances. The British player was speaking in the wake of high-profile doping cases involving Iga Swiatak and Jannik Sinner. “I would say all of us are probably quite sensitive to what we take on board, what we use,” the 22-year-old said, recalling an incident on Friday. “I got really badly bitten by, I don’t know what, like ants, mosquitoes, something. I’m allergic, I guess,” she added. The bites “flared up and swelled up really a
TWO IN A WEEK: Despite an undefeated start to the year playing alongside Jiang Xinyu of China, Wu Fang-hsien is to play the Australian Open with a Russian partner Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien yesterday triumphed at the Hobart International, winning the women’s doubles title at the US$275,094 outdoor hard-court tournament, while McCartney Kessler lifted the trophy in the women’s singles. Fourth-ranked Wu and partner Jiang Xinyu of China took 1 hour, 15 minutes to defeat Romania’s Monica Niculescu and Fanny Stollar of Hungary, 6-1, 7-6 (8/6) at the Hobart International Tennis Centre, their second title in a week. Wu and Jiang on Sunday won the women’s doubles title at the ASB Classic in Auckland, beating Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic and Sabrina Santamaria of the US. Their winning ways continued in Australia as they stretched
EL CLASSICO: La Liga champions Real Madrid would face Barcelona in the Super Cup final tomorrow. Barça secured their final spot after a 2-0 win over Bilbao on Wednesday Real Madrid would chase a record-equaling 14th Spanish Super Cup title in the final against Barcelona after second-half goals by Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo helped them to a 3-0 win over Mallorca in the semi-finals on Thursday. England midfielder Bellingham broke the deadlock after the hour mark with a low shot into the middle of the goal before Mallorca defender Martin Valjent’s own goal doubled the lead in stoppage time followed by a Rodrygo strike from close range. Spanish champions Real are to play Barcelona for the trophy tomorrow after goals by Gavi and Lamine Yamal earned Barça a 2-0 win over
RSS