ASIAN GAMES/Hsieh, Liang claim Asian Games gold in women's doubles tennis

Nagoya, Oct. 3 (CNA) Hsieh Su-wei (謝淑薇) and Liang En-shuo (梁恩碩) won women's tennis doubles gold at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Saturday, securing Taiwan's fifth gold medal of the Games.

The pair defeated compatriots Chan Hao-ching (詹皓晴) and Wu Fang-hsien (吳芳嫺) 6-4, 4-6, 10-5 at Higashiyama Park Tennis Center, giving Taiwan a gold-silver sweep in the event.

After splitting the opening two sets, the Taiwanese foursome contested a deciding match tiebreak, with Hsieh and Liang emerging victorious after one hour and 59 minutes.

Hsieh and Liang won 87 points to their opponents' 73 and took 59 percent of points played on their first serves, compared with 47 percent for Chan and Wu.

Hsieh, 40, was competing at her first Asian Games since Incheon in 2014, where she won women's team gold and doubles silver. Saturday's victory gave her a third career Asian Games gold.

Chan had been seeking a second consecutive women's doubles title after winning with her older sister, Latisha Chan (詹詠然), at the Hangzhou Games in 2023.

The two Taiwanese pairs had secured the country's gold-silver sweep Friday, when Hsieh and Liang defeated Kazakhstan's Anna Danilina and Yulia Putintseva, while Chan and Wu beat Hong Kong's Eudice Chong and Cody Wong.

In golf, Taiwan's Tseng Ya-ni (曾雅妮), Hsu Wei-ling (徐薇淩) and Chien Pei-yun (錢珮芸) won women's team bronze with a four-round total of 550 at Kasugai Country Club. China took gold with 538, ahead of India's 546.

Tseng and Chien each shot 68 in the final round, while Hsu carded 69. The team competition counted each country's two lowest individual scores each day.

Tseng finished tied for ninth individually at 276, recording five birdies and three bogeys Saturday. Returning to the Games after 20 years, the 37-year-old said she enjoyed the team atmosphere and appreciated being able to focus on golf with logistical support provided.

In taekwondo, Lin Wei-chun (林唯均) earned her second consecutive Asian Games medal with bronze in the women's 57-kilogram division. She lost her semifinal to China's Zhang Chuling (張楚玲), dropping the opening round 2-0, winning the second 8-6 and losing the decider 6-2.

Taiwan also won a second consecutive softball bronze, beating the Philippines 12-2 in four innings under the run-ahead rule. Home runs by Lin Feng-chen (林鳳珍), Chen Chia-yi (陳家宜) and Yeh Kuei-ping (葉貴萍) powered the victory.

As of press time, Taiwan had collected five golds, 17 silvers and 33 bronzes.