Your daily bulletin of Taiwan news, courtesy of ICRT.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/09/03
By: International Community Radio Taipei (ICRT)

The Air Force is dispatching two F-16 fighter jets to escort the final group of athletes who competed at the Asian Games back to Taiwan today, part of a heroes’ welcome for Taiwan’s seventh-place team.

The team finished in seventh place in the overall medals table with 17 gold, 19 silver, and 31 bronze medals – Taiwan’s best gold medal haul since the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok, when it took 19 gold medals.

The government is scheduled to award a total of NT$350 million (US$11.4 million) in prize money to the medal-winning athletes.

The two F-16s will be accompanying the plane carrying the team members once it enters Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone.    [FULL  STORY]

Team Taiwan records highest gold medal haul in 20 years at Asian Games

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/09/03
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Team Taiwan hauled in 17 gold medals at the 2018 Asian

Games, the most in 20 years and the second most ever.

By the close of the 2018 Asian Games yesterday (Sept. 2), Taiwan’s final medal tally stood at 17 gold, 19 silver and 31 bronze, giving the country a seventh-place finish on the medal table. The 17 gold medals were the most earned by Taiwan since the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok, when the team won 19 gold medals.

This year’s team made great achievements in gymnastics, badminton and archery. In track and field, “Taiwan’s fastest man” Yang Chun-han (楊俊瀚) captured the silver in the men’s 200-meter dash, and barely missed out on gold by one thousandth of a second.

Yang’s silver in the men’s 200-meter dash marks the first medal in the event in the history of Taiwan’s team.     [FULL  STORY]

SECOND-BEST SHOWING: Despite the nation’s athletes winning 17 gold, 19 silver and 31 bronze, some Taiwanese question the awarding of cash sums and the team results

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 03, 2018
By: Jason Pan  /  Staff reporter

As the closing ceremony yesterday wrapped up this year’s Asian Games, sports officials

and fans found the event a reason to celebrate, because Taiwanese athletes won 17 gold, 19 silver and 31 bronze medals, a total of 67.

Their achievements should be lauded by the whole nation, sports agencies and government officials are saying. It was the nation’s second-best showing at the event, only surpassed by the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok, Thailand.

The Sports Administration has announced that a total of NT$358.8 million (US$11.68 million) in prize money will be handed out to the winning athletes.

However, some critics are saying that, apart from praiseworthy results in several events, the nation’s athletes failed to deliver at critical moments in the major team competitions, finishing third in men’s baseball, behind Japan and South Korea, and arriving home without a medal in soccer or basketball.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News  
Date: 2018/09/01
By:  Central News Agency

Jakarta (CNA) Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting (林郁婷) clinched bronze in the women’s

flyweight (51-kilograms) boxing on Friday at the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia.

Lin lost to China’s Chang Yuan (常園) 1-4 in a split decision in the semifinals.

In the first two rounds, Lin played cautiously and only started to really dig at Chang in the third round, but “it’s a pity that it was too late, ” Lin said.

Through out the match, Lin had the advantage as she had the upper hand over Chang, however it was not reflected in the surprise decision by the judges.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/09/01
By: Lung Po-an and Ko Lin

Taipei, Sept. 1 (CNA) Taiwan’s Yang Hsin-lung (楊欣龍) and Lu Yi-zu (陸怡如) won gold in the mixed pair contract bridge event at the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia Saturday.

The victory marked the first ever bridge gold medal for Taiwan at the Asian multi-sport competitions.

In the final 2-round 5 results, Yang and Lu finished with a score of 363 points, beating their Taiwanese counterparts Fang Kang-wei (范綱維) and Tsai Po-ya (蔡博雅), who earned silver with 357 points.

Also a silver win, Taiwan’s Wu Yu-fang (吳昱芳) and Tsai Wen-chuan (蔡文娟) ended with 385.80 points in the women’s pair events, finishing behind only Ran Jingrong and Wu Shaohong of China, who took gold with 408.70 points.

Taiwan won a bronze in the contract bridge supermixed team competitions on Aug. 27.
[FULL  STORY]

DREAM COME TRUE: South Korea’s Son Heung-min earned his five-year deal with Tottenham Hotspur by assisting both of the goals his team needed to win gold

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 02, 2018
By: Kayleigh Madjar  /  Staff reporter, with CNA

The penultimate day of the Asian Games yesterday saw four bronze medals for Taiwan, as

well as a gold and two silvers in bridge, but disappointment in men’s and women’s basketball as both teams barely missed out on the podium.

The men’s volleyball team climbed out of a 20-year rut to claim the bronze medal for the first time since the Bangkok Games with a 25-22, 25-23, 17-25, 25-16 win over Qatar in Jakarta.

“Taiwan has waited for 20 years [for a medal] and I have waited for this moment for a very long time,” said Huang Chien-feng, who has played in three Asian Games.

Huang thanked his coach, saying that great teamwork was the key to their win.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/08/30
By: Sie Jing-wun and William Yen

Jakarta, Aug. 30 (CNA) Taiwan defeated China 1-0 in match two of the men’s baseball

super round on Thursday at the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia.

Taiwan’s starting pitcher Wu Sheng-feng (吳昇峰) allowed only four hits in 5.2 innings. China used Gan Quan (甘泉) as its starting pitcher.

Taiwan warmed up slowly until Hsiao Po-ting (蕭帛庭) fired the team’s first hit in the third inning, with both teams failing to make any runs in the first five innings.

In the sixth inning, with one out, Taiwan’s Tai Ju-liang (戴如量) scored a hit and then made a steal to second base.    [FULL  STORY]

SEMI-FINAL WOES: Neither of the basketball finals, nor the men’s volleyball finals are to include Taiwan, after they were thrashed by Korean and Chinese teams

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 31, 2018
By: Jason Pan  /  Staff reporter

Taiwan yesterday won a gold medal in the soft tennis mixed doubles and three bronze

medals in cycling, judo and kurash, but faltered in the basketball and volleyball semi-finals at the Asian Games in Indonesia.

In a marathon match, Taiwanese duo Yu Kai-wen and Cheng Chu-ling finally prevailed 5-3 over South Korea’s Kim Ki-sung and Mun Hye-gyoeng in the mixed doubles.

It has been a fantastic Games for Cheng, who on Wednesday won the silver medal in the soft tennis women’s singles.

Cheng had tears in her eyes at the end of yesterday’s match, as she had vowed to come home from the Games with a gold medal.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/08/29
By: Lee Chin-wei and William Yen

Taipei, Aug. 29 (CNA) Taiwan athlete Yang Chun-han (楊俊瀚) clinched a silver medal in the

men’s 200-meter dash at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia on Wednesday.

Yang and Japan’s Yuki Koike, who took gold, both finished in 20.23 seconds but Koike crossed the line ahead of Yang by one thousandth of a second.

Japan’s Yuki Koike (top) crossed the line ahead of Taiwan’s Yang Chun-han (楊俊瀚) by one thousandth of a second / photo courtesy of the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee

Yaqoob Yaqoob of Bahrain won the bronze medal in a time of 20.55 seconds.

Meanwhile, Taiwan cyclist Huang Ting-ying (黃亭茵) also won a silver medal, placing second in the women’s omnium in track cycling with a total of 126 points.    [FULL  STORY]

CLOSE CALLS: Sprinter Yang Chun-han was edged out in a photo finish in the 200m, while Cheng Chu-ling fought to the end for silver in the soft tennis women’s singles

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 30, 2018
By: Jason Pan  /  Staff reporter

Taiwan yesterday won two silver and one bronze at the Asian Games in Indonesia, while the

nation’s hopes in table tennis were dashed when two strong Taiwanese teams in mixed doubles lost their quarter-final matches.

Many Taiwanese fans had high expectations for sprinter Yang Chun-han, whose victory in the men’s 100m was a nationally celebrated highlight of last year’s Taipei Summer Universiade.

However, Yang yesterday ran the men’s 200m final in 20.23 seconds, but was edged out by 0.001 seconds by Japan’s Yuki Koike in a photo finish.

Yang reached across the finish line and fell down, then wept in disappointment after the result was announced.    [FULL  STORY]