Young skateboarders add to medals
TAIWAN TALLY 21: Ku Yong-yan, 12, overcame several errors to claim silver in the men’s park event, while Wang Kuan-hung took gold in the men’s 200m butterfly
By Grant Dexter / Staff reporter, with AFP, NAGOYA, Japan
Taiwan’s skateboarders yesterday delivered two silver medals at the Asian Games in Japan, helping lift the nation’s medal tally to 21.
Fourteen-year-old Lin Yi-fan claimed silver in the women’s park event with a first-run score of 85.15, becoming Taiwan’s first-ever skateboarding medalist at the Asian Games and, at the time, the nation’s youngest.
Japan’s Mizuho Hasegawa took gold with 94.03.
Taiwan’s Ku Yong-yan skateboards in the men’s park event at the Asian Games in Tokoname, Japan, yesterday.
Photo: AP
Lin told the Central News Agency after the medals ceremony that she was happy with the result.
“Maybe the judges liked me,” she said, adding that Hasegawa is really strong.
“I will continue to challenge her in the future,” she said.
Taiwan’s Ku Yong-yan holds his medal and a mascot after winning silver in the men’s park skateboarding event at the Asian Games in Tokoname, Japan, yesterday.
Photo: AP
Lin is to depart for Paraguay to participate in the World Skate Games in Asuncion from Friday next week to Oct. 18. The event includes qualifying for the Los Angeles Olympics.
Hours later, 12-year-old Ku Yong-yan produced an even more dramatic result in the men’s park final. After three error-strewn runs, he was in fifth.
However, the first-year junior-high school student nailed a high-difficulty last run of 87.33 to snatch silver behind Japan’s Izuru Nagahara.
Taiwan’s Chen Guan-ling holds her medal after winning bronze in the women’s 57kg weightlifting final at the Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan, yesterday.
Photo: AP
With the result, Ku overtook Lin to become Taiwan’s youngest Asian Games medalist.
In the heats on Thursday, Lin topped her group with a score of 78.53 to enter the final ranked second, while Ku — also advancing in second — topped his group with a score of 83.73.
In weightlifting, Chen Kuan-ling added a bronze in the women’s 57kg class. After a 95kg snatch, she produced a clutch 122kg clean-and-jerk for a 217kg total, edging Vietnam’s Quang Thi Tam.
Taiwan’s Lin Yi-fan skateboards in the women’s park event at the Aichi International Exhibition Center in Tokoname, Japan, yesterday.
Photo: AP
North Korea’s Oh Kwang-ok won gold with a combined lift of 238kg, while Suratwadee Yodsarn claimed silver with 219kg.
It was Taiwan’s first weightlifting medal of the Games.
Canoe sprinter Lai Kuan-chieh also collected bronze in the men’s single 500m, reaching the podium for a second straight Asian Games.
Taiwan’s Chen Guan-ling reacts during the women’s 57kg weightlifting final at the Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan, yesterday.
Photo: AP
He finished in 1 minute, 49.0421 seconds, 1.704 seconds behind gold-medal winner Ji Bowen of China.
At press time last night, Taiwan had two golds, five silvers and 14 bronzes to sit 13th on the overall table, having added a gold through Wang Kuan-hung in the men’s 200m butterfly final at the Tokyo Aquatics Center.
Meanwhile, Japan on Thursday overcame table tennis powerhouse China to end their 32-year run as Asian Games men’s team champions.
Taiwan’s Lin Yi-fan stands on the podium after claiming silver in the women’s park skateboarding event at the Aichi International Exhibition Center in Tokoname, Japan, yesterday.
Photo: Reuters
Japan’s Tomokazu Harimoto said that his team had overcome their inferiority complex after claiming a nail-biting final.
China had won gold in the event at every Games since 1994, but they were dethroned by Japan after Sora Matsushima beat Wen Ruibo in the decisive match to win 3-2.
The Japan team also featured Harimoto, whose parents were both born in China and whose mother once represented the country at the world championships.
“That we beat them was proof that we had lacked confidence before,” said Harimoto, whose sister Miwa plays for Japan’s women’s team. “I’m happy, but looking at the actual contest, there was nothing unusual about the way we played or the outcome. We just managed to attain the one thing we’d been missing — confidence.”
The men’s defeat left a bitter taste in the mouths of Chinese fans, who vented their anger on social media.
“The men’s team, despite enjoying the best resources and treatment, suffers from lack of continuity and a talent gap,” one user wrote.
“There is no one coming through,” another wrote.
China got their own back in the women’s team final, beating Japan 3-0.
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