OLYMPICS/Aug. 7 recap: Boxer Lin Yu-ting steps closer to gold

Paris, Aug. 7 (CNA) Team Taiwan has secured at least one Olympic silver medal in boxing following Lin Yu-ting's (林郁婷) victory in the semifinal of the women's 57-kilogram division in Paris on Wednesday.

Lin beat Esra Yildiz Kahraman of Turkey by unanimous decision -- her third consecutive one -- to advance to the final.

Lin, 28, is the first Taiwanese boxer to clinch a final berth at the Games.

Three female Taiwanese boxers -- Huang Hsiao-wen (黃筱雯) in Tokyo and Wu Shih-yi (吳詩儀) and Chen Nien-chin (陳念琴) in Paris -- each lost fights in the semifinal stage. They nonetheless all secured medals for Team Taiwan since semifinal losers take home bronzes in Olympic boxing.

Lin will face Polish boxer Julia Szeremeta, the 2023 European U22 champion, in the final on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Taiwan's women's table tennis team was ousted in the quarterfinal by the Chinese team in a 3-0 result.

Four-time Olympian Chen Szu-yu (陳思羽), who lost in the first match on Wednesday, said she felt happy with her progress since her Olympic debut in London 2012.

Taiwan did not compete in the women's team event in London and was knocked out in the round of 16 in Rio 2016.

In weightlifting, Fang Wan-ling (方莞靈) finished sixth in the women's 49-kilogram final, two places lower compared to her Olympic debut in Tokyo.

Despite the result, the 24-year-old still broke national records of 86 kg in the snatch and 193 kg in the total.

Also on Thursday, canoeist Lai Kuan-chieh (賴冠傑) was eliminated in the quarterfinal of the men's canoe single 1000m, clocking three minutes and 58.79 seconds to place fourth among the five in his group.

Only the top two in each of the three groups advanced to the canoeing semifinals.

Concluding his first Games, Lai, 27, said he hoped his journey would inspire others to pursue their dreams.

"I will keep going in the next four years. I must make it to the final at the Los Angeles Games," Lai said.