TENNIS/Taiwan men's doubles pair wins World Soft Tennis Championships gold

Taipei, Sept. 8 (CNA) Taiwan's Yu Kai-wen (余凱文) and Kuo Chien-chun (郭建群) claimed gold medals Saturday after beating South Korea in the men's doubles event of the 2024 World Soft Tennis Championships.

The Taiwanese pair, who earlier defeated Japan in the semifinals, won a tiebreak to clinch a 5-4 victory over their Korean opponents in the event's finals, the Sports Administration said in a press release.

In addition to the men's doubles gold, Taiwanese athletes Huang Shih-yuan (黃詩媛) and Yu also won bronze medals in the mixed doubles event, while Chiang Min-yu (江旻育) won a bronze in women's singles, the Sports Administration said.

The World Soft Tennis Championships traditionally take place once every four years, with the last one held in Taizhou, China in 2019.

This year's tournament -- which is being held in Anseong City, South Korea from Sept. 1-11 -- was delayed by a year to avoid conflicting with the Asian Games, which also has a soft tennis event.

Soft tennis is a racket game played on a court divided into two halves by a net, but soft rubber balls are used instead of the hard felt-covered balls seen in traditional tennis.