Taiwan tennis players continued their domination at the Asian Games in Guangzhou, mainland China Nov. 22 by adding a gold and silver in the women’s doubles event and a gold in mixed doubles to their medal haul.
The pair of Chan Yung-jan and Chuang Chia-jung, silver medalists at the Doha games in 2006, used their experience to defeat their compatriots Chang Kai-chen and Hsieh Su-wei 7-5, 6-3 to take home Taiwan’s first-ever Asiad women’s doubles gold. The showdown marked the first time in Asian Games history that a single nation was represented in the gold medal match of the event.
Chan picked up another gold later in the day with her partner Yang Tsung-hua, a former world youth champion, in the mixed doubles competition when they beat Sania Mirza and Vishnu Vardhan of India 4-6, 6-1, 10-2 in the finals.
The day’s triumphs brought Taiwan’s overall tennis medal tally to three golds, two silvers and one bronze, top among all nation’s at the Guangzhou games. The three gold medals mark a new Asian Games record for the country in the sport.
Among individual tennis players, Chan has shone the brightest in Guangzhou, with a total of three medals, including a silver in the women’s team event. She will receive a total of NT$7.5 million (US$244,874), tops among Taiwan female athletes, in award money from the Republic of China government for her performance at the games.
Taiwan’s tennis athletes as a whole will be awarded NT$34.8 million in total for medals won in Guangzhou.
Speaking on the government’s policy to promote the sport of tennis in Taiwan, Sports Affairs Council Minister Tai Hsia-ling said her council will in the future “provide financial assistance to cultivate Taiwan tennis players with potential in order to help them rank in the top 100 in the world.”
After competition Nov. 22, Taiwan’s gold medal tally at the Guangzhou games stands at eight, just one shy of its haul at the Doha games. (SB)