OLYMPICS/Taiwan men's archery team ousted in quarterfinals

Paris, July 29 (CNA) Taiwan's male archers will not repeat their Olympic medal-winning performance of three years ago after being defeated by China in the quarterfinals of the men's team event at the Paris Olympics on Monday.

Fielding a team in which only one of the three archers had Olympic experience, Taiwan started off with a 56-56 tie in the first set of six arrows each but then struggled with consistency to lose the next two sets 53-52 and 56-54 and the match 5-1.

In the team competition, teams get two points for winning a set and one point for a tie, with the first team to five points the winner.

Taiwan won silver in the event in Tokyo three years ago. Tang Chih-chun (湯智鈞), who is now 23, was the sole member of that team competing in Paris as Taiwan opted to go young at these Olympics.

The other members of the three-man team, Tai Yu-hsuan (戴宇軒), 21, and Lin Zih-siang (林子翔), 23, have no Olympic experience.

The men's result somewhat mirrored the fortunes of the women's team, which defeated the United States team in the round of 16 before being ousted by South Korea in the quarterfinals on Sunday.

South Korea went on to win gold in the event, their 10th Olympic gold in a row in the women's team competition since it was first introduced at the Olympics in 1988.

Taiwan's three male and three female archers will still have a chance to compete in the individual events in the coming days, and Taiwan will also compete in the mixed team event on Friday, facing formidable South Korea in the quarterfinals.

Taiwan has won two silvers and two bronzes in archery in the Olympics, all in team events. It is the country's third biggest haul in any Olympic sport, behind only weightlifting and taekwondo.