OLYMPICS/Aug. 2 recap: Lee, Wang seek 2nd straight badminton doubles title; Lin advances

Paris, Aug. 2 (CNA) Team Taiwan secured at least one silver medal at the Paris Olympics with a semifinal victory in badminton men's doubles on Friday, while boxer Lin Yu-ting (林郁婷) punched her ticket to the women's 57-kilogram quarterfinals amid a renewed gender row.

Badminton: Historic feat

Lee Yang (李洋) and Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟), who were crowned champions in the event in Tokyo three years ago, clinched a spot in the men's doubles finals by holding off the world No. 2 Danish duo, Anders Skaarup Rasmussen and Kim Astrup, again in Paris.

Similar to their previous match in the group stage on July 29, the Taiwanese duo seized the victory after a 66-minute battle, coming back from 18-21 to win the next two games 21-17, 21-10.

The victory makes them the first Taiwanese shuttlers to win more than one Olympic medal, with a chance to secure back-to-back gold.

Asked to comment on the difference between Paris and Tokyo, Lee expressed surprise at the support they received from fans in the French capital.

"There was no audience at the Tokyo Olympics and not many people knew us, so the vibe is entirely different now. We didn't have so many fans cheering for us. The sound was surprisingly loud, [because I think] European players should receive more cheers [than we do]," said the 28-year-old, who has decided to retire at the end of the 2024 season.

They will face the world No. 1 duo from China, Liang Weikeng (梁偉鏗) and Wang Chang (王昶), on Sunday. Lee and Wang have won two of their previous four matches against them, according to the Badminton World Federation.

Meanwhile, male ace Chou Tien-chen (周天成) was knocked out in the men's singles quarterfinals by Lakshya Sen of India, 21-19, 15-21, 12-21, in a 75-minute match.

This is the third time Chou has been ousted in the quarterfinals, tying the team's record in the event.

The 34-year-old veteran said both had great performances, but he failed to find a solution as the young Indian phenom managed to keep him at the backcourt.

"I really wanted to win a medal for us [in men's singles]. I'm sorry I didn't make it," he said.

However, Chou did not indicate any plans to retire soon.

Boxing: Undisputed

As Taiwan's last pugilist to compete in Paris, two-time International Boxing Association (IBA) world champion Lin Yu-ting advanced to the quarterfinals by defeating Sitora Turdibekova of Uzbekistan by unanimous decision.

Lin, who entered Tokyo three years ago as the top seed but was defeated in her first bout, admitted she still felt a bit nervous due to the traumatic experience but was glad to collect her first win at the Games.

However, the spotlight was stolen by disputes over the gender eligibility of Lin and Imane Khelif of Algeria, who is competing in the women's 66 kg division. Both athletes were disqualified from the 2023 IBA World Championships.

The issue was brought up in late July and has seen the public make remarks with apparent misunderstandings of the situation.

The International Olympic Committee has reiterated that transgender issues do not apply to Lin and Khelif and that all boxers at the Games fully comply with the rules established by the Paris Boxing Unit.

Born and raised as a girl and having competed in women's events, Lin was not exempt from the recent wave of controversy. Turdibekova's coach showed no friendly response when she attempted to shake hands with him after her win.

More than 50 international press members awaited her after the match, but she declined to speak, with her coach Tseng Tzu-chiang (曾自強) speaking on her behalf.

"We have talked a lot about this issue, but it still shocked her to see so many press members, so we decided to let her focus on preparing for the next match," he said.

Tseng expressed regret that she had to go through this, but he has faith that Lin was not significantly affected by the incident, given her performance in the ring.

Lin is the third Taiwanese female boxer to reach the quarterfinals or farther, following Wu Shih-yi (吳詩儀) in the 60kg semifinals and Chen Nien-chin (陳念琴) in the 66kg quarterfinals.

Lin is slated to face Svetlana Kamenova Staneva of Bulgaria on Sunday and will be guaranteed at least a bronze in the event of a win, as there is no third-place playoff in boxing.

Archery: Close call

In the mixed team event, Lei Chien-ying (雷千瑩) and Tai Yu-hsuan (戴宇軒) fell just one point short in the round of 16 showdown after putting pressure on the prohibitive favorites, South Korea.

Lei and Tai quickly lost the first two sets, in which each team shot four arrows (two by each archer), going down 4-0.

They rebounded to win the next two sets, including a perfect score of four 10s in the fourth set, pulling even at 4-4 and forcing a shootout.

However, Lei shot a 9 and Tai shot a 10, while Lim Sihyeon and Kim Woojin both shot 10s to win the match.

Recognizing the strength of the Korean team, Lei said that despite the loss, they had surprised their opponents and that "everyone must have seen our effort."

Shooting: Two more out

Tien Chia-chen (田家榛) and Wu Chia-ying (吳佳穎) failed to qualify for the women's 25-meter pistol final, finishing 16th and 31st with 581 and 572 points, respectively.

Only the top eight shooters qualified for the final.

"I'm sorry for letting you down. Please don't be too harsh on me," Wu was quoted as saying in an Instagram post by her team.

She said she will readjust and start over after returning to Taiwan.

Athletics: Sweet debut

Zhang Bo-ya (張博雅) finished last in her heat of the women's 100m with her season-best time of 11.88 seconds. Her personal best is 11.70 seconds.

Although she did not advance to the semifinals, the 21-year-old, who specializes in the 100m hurdles, said she cherished the experience of competing with and learning from top athletes overseas in her Olympic debut.

"But I hope next time I can earn the berth on my own and compete in the event I specialize in, so that I can feel more confident," she said.

Zhang competed in Paris on a universality place, allocated to athletes from underrepresented National Olympic Committees to increase the diversity of participating nations.

Swimming: Disqualified

Also on Friday, Angie Coe (Han An-chi, 韓安齊) failed to advance to the semifinals despite finishing second in her group in the women's 200m individual medley.

According to her coach, Huang Yung-chih (黃勇智), Coe was disqualified because her dolphin kick was not synchronized during the butterfly stroke, as confirmed after a video review.

Coe, 19, is one of two Taiwanese swimmers in Paris, along with Eddie Wang Kuan-hung (王冠閎), who was eliminated in the men's 200-meter butterfly semifinal on Wednesday in his second Games.