Taiwan Today

Taiwan added two more gold medals Sept. 14 at the 21st Summer Deaflympics Taipei 2009 on the second to last day of competition for local athletes. Chang Yao-chien grabbed a gold medal in the women’s bowling masters competition, while Wen Chih-hsuan took home gold in the men’s table tennis singles event. Taiwan finished with 11 golds, 11 silvers and 11 bronzes, eclipsing the nation’s Deaflympics medal tally registered at the 2005 games in Melbourne, Australia when it won nine golds, four silvers and three bronzes. Despite the strong showing overall, the result fell short of Taiwan’s set goal of 12 gold medals for the games. The host had also hoped to finish third overall in the medal standings, but ended up in fifth place on the second to last day of the games. Unfortunately, star bowler Chang Li-hsiao, who won four gold medals in Melbourne, world-record holder swimmer Tseng Shu-ning, and track stars Chen Lan-feng and An Ching-lung were unable to win gold at the Taipei games. On the other hand, the games began with some pleasant surprises for Taiwan, with Chen Yi-chun winning gold in the women’s taekwondo under 49-kilogram category on the first day of competition. Lu Si-rou followed up with another gold in the women’s under 57-kilogram category the next day to give the host nation a strong start out of the gates. On the third day, Lu Jin-feng, Chang Yao-chien and Kuo Chia-mi added three more golds to Taiwan’s tally in karate, bowling and orienteering competitions, respectively. This helped Taiwan to move into second in the overall medal standings by winning three golds, three silvers, and three bronzes in a single day. Taiwan then won gold for a fourth straight day Sept. 9, thanks to the men’s table tennis team led by Wen Chih-hsuan. Silvers were added by the women’s bowling pair of Wang Yu-chin and Chen Wen-ni, as well as Kao Ya-ju in women’s shooting, and Huang Pei-wei in men’s taekwondo. Forty-seven-year-old Lin Mao-chang showed his mettle on the fifth day of the games, winning bronze in the men’s judo under 90-kg category. Taiwan’s bowlers shone the next day, grabbing three golds in the women’s trio, men’s team and women’s team events and adding silver in the men’s trio competition. However, as the games neared the tail-end, the Ukraine, South Korea, Belarus and China began to surge, while Taiwan only picked up three bronzes each Sept. 12 and Sept. 13, slipping to fifth spot in the overall medal standings. Luckily, the hosts were able to redeem themselves on the second to last day of the games with golds by Chang and Wen to set a new Deaflympics medal count record for Taiwan. Overall, Taiwan’s bowlers contributed the most to the nation’s medal haul, grabbing five golds, three silvers and one bronze. Taekwondo was the next most profitable sport, accounting for two golds, two silvers and one bronze, followed by table tennis (two golds), karate (one gold, two silvers and one bronze), and orienteering (one gold and one bronze). Taiwan athletes won medals in nine of the 16 sports in which they competed, including track and field, shooting, tennis and judo, setting a new record for the nation at the Deaflympics. The closing ceremony for the Summer Deaflympics is slated to be held on the evening of Sept. 15, during which time the Deaflympics flag will be handed over to representatives of Athens, Greece – the host of the next games set for 2013. (SB)