Badminton stars boost Taiwan’s gold medal tally at Universiade to 26

2017/08/31

Taiwan secured eight golds Aug. 29 on the final day of competitive events in most sports at the Taipei 2017 Summer Universiade, pushing its gold medal tally at the games to a national record-breaking total of 26.
 
 The gold medal rush was spearheaded by the nation’s badminton players, who claimed victory in the men’s singles, women’s singles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles. Taiwan athletes were particularly impressive in the singles events, with Wang Tzu-wei besting Japan’s Nishimoto Kenta 21-15, 21-16, and current women’s world No. 1 Tai Tzu-ying dispatching Lee Jangmi of South Korea 21-9, 21-13 in just 22 minutes.
 
 According to Tai, clinching victory in front of adoring home fans was an unforgettable experience and erased the disappointment of missing out on gold at the 2013 and 2015 Universiades, when she earned silver and bronze, respectively.
 
 Noting that she skipped the Badminton World Federation World Championships to take part in the Taipei Universiade, Tai said it was a great honor to compete at the largest global sporting event ever staged in Taiwan. She also expressed hope that the passion displayed by local audiences during the games will propel the nation’s sporting development and foster wider interest in athletic activities.
 
 The Taiwan doubles competitors faced tougher challenges on their paths to victory. In the women’s final, Hsu Ya-ching and Wu Ti-jung won a competitive match against Chayanit Chaladchalam and Phataimas Muenwong of Thailand 21-17, 22-20.
 
 In the mixed doubles event, Lee Chi-hsin and Wang Chi-lin recovered from losing the first set to earn a 12-21, 21-16, 21-14 win over Goh Yea Ching and Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub of Malaysia.
 
 Three of Taiwan’s four other golds came at the Taipei Tennis Center, where Jason Jung prevailed in the men’s singles final 6-2, 6-4 over South Korea’s Hong Seongchan. This marked Taiwan’s first victory in men’s singles tennis at the Universiade since professional star and former Wimbledon quarterfinalist Lu Yen-hsun won the event in 2003.
 
 Jung’s triumph also ensured that Taiwan bagged gold in the men’s tennis team contest, which ranks participating national sides by awarding points to competitors who qualify for the round of 16 or better in singles and doubles events. Taiwan also secured women’s tennis team gold due in large part to the efforts of the Chan sisters, Chan Yung-jan and Chan Hao-ching, who clinched the women’s doubles Aug. 28.
 
 The other contributor to Taiwan’s medal rush was martial artist Hsu Kai-kuei, who won gold in the men’s nanquan and nangun wushu competition with an exceptional combined score of 19.18. After the contest, Hsu announced his retirement from the sport, stating that triumph in the Universiade marked the perfect conclusion to his athletic career.
 
 Following its late medal surge, Taiwan stands third in the final Universiade medal table with 26 golds, 34 silvers and 30 bronzes. Japan sits atop the rankings with 37 golds, 27 silvers and 37 bronzes, while South Korea is in second place with 30 golds, 22 silvers and 30 bronzes. The Universiade closing ceremony is set to kick off 6:30 p.m., Aug. 30, with a parade for Taiwan’s medalists scheduled to be held the following day from 4 p.m. in Taipei.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/news.php?unit=10&post=120733)