Taiwan’s Tommy Chen fights through excruciating foot sores to take the lead in Bhutan ultramarathon 

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/05/31
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwanese ultramarathon runner Tommy Chen (陳彥博) won

Stage 4 of six in the ultramarathon “Bhutan The Last Secret 200km 2018,” but in the process he had to battle though horrific blisters on his heels, which have become excruciatingly painful.

At 7:27 p.m. last night (May 30) a post appeared on Chen’s Facebook page announcing that Chen had taken first place in Stage 4 with a time of 4:31:18, while in second place was Guillaume Degoulet of France at 4:49:39 and third place was taken Alan Zaugy, also of France, at  4:57:41.

At the beginning of Stage 4, Chen said that he was already feeling the affects of the altitude and fatigue, but in order to ensure a high ranking, he felt compelled to catch up with the main group. When he reached the second checkpoint, Chen began to feel the heels of his feet starting to sting with “every step feeling like stepping on needles.”

Fearing that if he stopped, the gap between him and lead pack would widen, he pressed on. Despite feeling such intense pain that he “wanted to scream out loud,” he kept running at a full sprint.     [FULL  STORY]

‘Don’t forget your mistakes, learn from them,’ says Liao

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/05/28
By: Mabel Neo, Taiwan News, Staff Reporter

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)- “It feels great when I see my hard work pay off,” said Taiwanese

athlete Liao Yan-jun (廖晏均) in an exclusive interview with Taiwan News ahead of the Taiwan Athletics Open held last Friday and Saturday (May 25,26).

Earlier in March, Liao met the qualifying criteria for the Asian Games Women’s 100m event in the Taipei Spring Athletics Open (台北市春季全國田徑公開賽) by clocking in her new personal best of 11.67 seconds.

She clinched a silver medal in the Women’s 100m event and a gold medal for the Women’s 4*100m relay in the Taiwan Athletics Open.

However, she wasn’t satisfied with her performance, and felt a little disappointed after the prize presentation ceremony, because the time that the relay team clocked in the finals did not secure them a spot for the Asian Games   [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/05/27
By: Lee Chin-wei and William Yen

Taipei, May 27 (CNA) Gymnast Lee Chih-kai (李智凱) snatched gold in the men’s

pommel horse event at the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) World Challenge Cup in Osijek, Croatia on Sunday.

Lee won with a score of 15.333, topping Akim Mussayev of Kazakhstan (14.333) and Vasili Mikhalitsyn of Belarus (14.100) who finished second and third, respectively.

Earlier this year, Lee also did well, snatching silvers in the pommel horse event at FIG World Cup competitions in February and March in Melbourne, Australia; Doha, Qatar; and Baku, Azerbaijan.

In celebration of his most recent gold medal win, Lee posted on his Facebook “Finally, I am no longer second best.”    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date:: May 28, 2018 
By: Jason Pan  /  Staff reporter

Taiwan’s junior soccer teams have shown that they can compete with the best from

around Asia, with the under-12 girls of the Taipei Heart Breakers finishing second at an international tournament in Singapore that was held on April 28 and 29.

Five Taiwanese teams in the under-11 to under-13 levels participated in Singapore’s annual Junior Soccer School and League (JSSL) International Sevens competition, which is played with seven players on a side for a regulation 22-minute match.

The Taipei Heart Breakers were the first Taiwanese girls’ team to enter the JSSL competition, and they surprised everyone by putting together a winning run through the group stage and into the knockout round, team coach Daniel Calvert said.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/05/26
By: Lung Po-an and Kuan-lin Liu

Taipei, May 26 (CNA) Taiwanese tennis player Lu Yen-hsun (盧彥勳) announced a

last-minute decision Saturday night to withdraw from the 2018 French Open, which begins the next day, in order to take care of his not-yet fully recovered shoulder.

Lu made the decision after a lengthy discussion with his team and doctors from the Association of Tennis Professionals, making it the second time that he has backed out of a major tennis tournament due to his shoulder injury.

Earlier this January, he withdrew from the Australian Open to give his shoulder more time to heal.

However, it seems that despite four months of recovery, his participation in a Challenger event in South Korea did enough damage on his right shoulder to where he can no longer compete in the French Open that he has been preparing for.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/05/25
By: Lung Po-an and Romulo Huang

Taipei, May 25 (CNA) Taiwan won the compound women’s team title Friday at the

Hyundai Archery World Cup being held in Atalya, Turkey, after beating India 231-228 in the final.

Chen Yi-Hsuan (陳怡瑄) led Taiwan to the victory, shooting a perfect 10 on all eight of her arrows during the four-round contest.

“I have a medal because I have two strong teammates,” said the team’s anchor, Lin Ming-ching (林明靜), who shot third in the three-archer rotation.

In team competitions, each of a team’s three archers shoot two arrows per round. The maximum score over four rounds is 240.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: May 26, 2018 
By: AFP, BANGKOK

China’s star shuttlers are to be tested by Thailand’s dark-horse women’s team and

Indonesia’s men in the last four of the Uber and Thomas Cups, with Japan also grabbing spots in both semi-finals after a dramatic knockout stage on Thursday.

The prestigious biennial event has brought together 16 top teams from five continents for a week of intense competition in Bangkok for the men’s Thomas Cup and the women’s Uber Cup.

The day’s most exhilarating moment came when Thailand’s women edged into the final four, with Busanan Ongbamrungphan sparking jubilation among the home crowd by winning the final women’s singles 9-21, 12-21 to seal a 3-2 win against Indonesia.

Thailand’s star player, world No. 4 Ratchanok Intanon, started the tie well for the home side, demolishing Indonesia’s Fitriani Fitriani in the first game.

However, the visitors won the next two points, before a Thai doubles pair matched their score and Busanan finally broke the draw, sending her team rushing onto the court to embrace each other and dance before an ecstatic crowd.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/05/24
By: Ko Lin

Taipei, May 24 (CNA) Taiwanese markswoman Lin Yin-shin (林穎欣) won a gold medal in

the women’s 10-meter air rifle event at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Rifle/Pistol in Germany on Thursday, a first for Taiwan at the world cup.

Lin finished with a total of 250.3 points, beating seven other competitors in the final elimination round, including Wu Mingyang of China and Rikke Maeng Ibsen of Denmark, who received the silver and bronze medals.

This was Lin’s latest success following her gold medal in the 10m air rifle category at this year’s National Intercollegiate Athletic Games in Taiwan, held in late April through early May, according to Chinese Taipei Shooting Association (CTSA) President Steven Chen (陳士魁).    [FULL  STORY]