PHOTO ESSAY/2023 On the Spot: Sports highlights

Taipei, Dec. 31 (CNA) The Central News Agency is looking back at significant news events in Taiwan and memorable moments for Taiwanese athletes on the international and domestic stages in 2023 through the lenses of its reporters and photographers who were on the scene.            

The events that drew attention in Taiwan in 2023 spanned a controversial imported egg policy, the first typhoon to hit Taiwan in four years, and Taiwan's being described as a living hell for pedestrians by foreign media.

Meanwhile, elite athletes performed well in international sports events such as the Asian Games and World Baseball Classic that were held after many global competitions had been suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Focus Taiwan published two separate photo essays to mark the news and sports highlights.   

Sports highlights from 2023

▲Skater Huang Yu-lin (黃玉霖, left) extends his left leg, in effect doing a split, to win the men's 3,000 meter roller skating relay team championship by a whisker at the Asian Games in Hangzhou on Oct. 2.

Taiwan won the title as Huang edged South Korean skater Jung Cheol-won (right) by 0.01 seconds after Jung, thinking he was going to win, celebrated prematurely.

▲Taiwanese boxer Kan Chia-wei (甘家葳, in red) celebrates his semifinal victory over Bayramdurdy Nurmuhammedov (in blue) of Turkmenistan in the men's 63.5-71 kilogram weight class at the Asian Games in Hangzhou on Oct. 3.

Kan settled for silver on Oct. 4 after being ruled out of the final due to a severe eyebrow injury he suffered during the semifinal bout.

▲Yang Yung-wei (楊勇緯) tears up after winning Taiwan's first judo gold medal ever at the Asian Games on Sept. 24.

Yang defeated Lee Ha-rim of South Korea in the finals of the men's under-60 kilogram weight class. It was Taiwan's 100th gold medal at the quadrennial sports event.

▲Lien Chen-ling (連珍羚) clenches her fists to celebrate her triumph in the women's under-57 kilogram judo final at the Asian Games on Sept. 25.

Taiwan's "Queen of Judo" defeated Japanese judoka Momo Tamaoki en route to Taiwan's first women's title in the sport at the Asian Games.

▲Lin Pei-hsuan (林沛萱) manages to clear the bar in the women's high jump final at the Hangzhou Asian Games on Oct. 3.

Lin, competing in the Asian Games at the age of 15, finished tied for seventh with a jump of 1.75 meters after failing in three attempts at 1.80 meters.

Her jump of 1.81 meters at the National Middle School Athletics Games in Hsinchu County in April broke the games' high jump record of 1.80 meters, set in 1991 by Tang Li-wen (唐莉文).

▲Taiwan's men's football team takes a selfie after outlasting Indonesia 1-0 at the Hangzhou Asian Games on Sept. 21.

The match was Taiwan's first win in the event at the Asian Games since 1958, and the goal was the team's first since 1966.

▲Go player Hsu Hao-hung (許皓鋐, right) stares at China Go titan, then world No. 3 Ke Jie (柯潔) during the men's individual final at the Asian Games in Hangzhou on Sept. 28.

Hsu, who was ranked 35th in the world entering the Asian Games, won Taiwan's first ever Go championship at the games by upsetting two South Koreans, world No. 2 Park Jeong Hwan in the quarterfinals and world No. 1 Shin Jin-seo in the semis, and China's Ke in the final.

The victory marked the greatest achievement by a Taiwanese Go player on the international stage since the "red-faced Go master" Chou Chun-hsun (周俊勳) lifted the LG Cup in 2007.

▲Yu Chang (張育成) snaps a military salute to a camera after smashing a grand slam that powered Taiwan to a 9-5 victory over the Netherlands in Taichung on March 11, for the team's second straight win at the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

The salute was Chang's signature move during the tournament as he became Taiwan's top star with a slugging percentage of 0.938 and was named Pool A MVP.

That gesture had its roots in Chang's initial request to not be picked for the national team.

Chang had agreed to play for the national team in exchange for not having to do his military service, and had no right to turn down a call-up. His attempted no-show sparked a furor among local baseball fans, but his big swings at the WBC won the fans back, and he earned the nickname "Minister of National Defense."

▲Pitcher Lin Wei-en (林維恩) cries on the field of Taipei Tienmu Baseball Stadium following Taiwan's 2-1 loss to Japan in the U-18 Baseball World Cup final on Sept. 10.

Taiwan advanced to the final without losing a single game on its home turf, including a 5-2 win over Japan on Sept. 9.

Lin came out of the bullpen and served up 2 2/3 scoreless innings in the team's championship game loss.

▲Starting pitcher Hsu Jo-hsi (徐若熙) roars after fanning batter Ryuga Ihara of Japan for the third out of the first inning in the Asian Baseball Championship final at Taipei Dome on Dec. 10.

The right-handed fireballer served up eight strikeouts and gave up an unearned run through five innings in front of a crowd of 21,013 at Taiwan's only indoor baseball stadium, where Taiwan lost to Japan 1-0 to finish second in the tournament.

▲Fubon Guardians outfielder Kao Kuo-hui (高國輝) hangs up his bat after the game at Xinzhuang Baseball Stadium in New Taipei on Sept. 30.

Kao announced in early September his intention to call it a career after the 2023 season, and the Fubon franchise held a ceremonial home-run show that day for the slugger as part of the three-time Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) home run leader's retirement ceremony.

The 38-year-old veteran was named as a CPBL All-Star five times and won the Silver Slugger Award in 2015.

▲Ngayaw Ake' (Lin Chih-sheng, 林智勝) gets lifted by his Wei Chuan Dragons teammates to celebrate his 300th homer at Rakuten Taoyuan Baseball Stadium on April 16.

Ngayaw Ake came up as a pinch hitter with two runners on in the top of the eighth with the Dragons leading the Rakuten Monkeys 1-0. He drove a breaking ball by Bradin Hagens into the left-field bleachers,  making him the first CPBL player to amass 300 homers in the league's 34-year history.

▲Dragons players run toward pitcher Jacob Daniel Brigham (front center) in a shower of red streamers after the team defeated the Monkeys 6-3 in Taipei on Nov. 12 to clinch its first CPBL championship since 1999.

The Dragons outlasted the Monkeys 4-3 in the best-of-seven series.