ASIAN GAMES/Taiwan men's team take table tennis bronze at Asiad

Taipei, Sept. 24 (CNA) Taiwan's men's table tennis team lost 3-0 to China in the semifinals of the Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026 on Wednesday, settling for bronze for the fourth consecutive time at the quadrennial Games.

The bronze was Taiwan's first table tennis medal at this year's Asiad, as the multi-sport event is also called.

On Wednesday, Taiwan had already secured a place on the podium by reaching the semifinals, but needed to beat China to advance to the gold medal match.

In the opening match, world No. 6 Lin Yun-ju (林昀儒) pushed top-ranked Wang Chuqin (王楚欽) to five games before losing 8-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-8, 13-15.

After dropping the first two games, Lin rallied to level the match. He led 7-4 in the deciding game, but Wang won six straight points to reach match point at 10-7.

Lin saved three match points and later earned one of his own at 13-12, only for Wang to win the next three points and give China a 1-0 lead in the team contest.

Feng Yi-hsin (馮翊新) then lost to former world No. 1 Lin Shidong (林詩棟) 11-8, 11-6, 11-1.

Seventeen-year-old Kuo Guan-hong (郭冠宏) won the opening game 14-12 against Wen Ruibo (溫瑞博), but lost the next three 7-11, 8-11, 6-11 as China sealed the semifinal victory.

This is the fourth consecutive time that Taiwan's men's team has won bronze at the Asian Games, beginning with the 2014 Asiad in Incheon, South Korea.