The Taiwan team is showing remarkable performance in table tennis at the Tokyo Olympics. Its stars include the world’s number one ranked mixed table tennis duo and Taiwan’s oldest table tennis champion.
Taiwan’s table tennis mixed pair, Lin Yun-ju and Cheng I-ching, clinched the bronze on Monday in just 38 minutes, beating their French opponents. The duo, who are 10 years apart in age, have been competing together as a team since 2019. The bronze was Taiwan’s first table tennis Olympic medal in 21 years. The last win in table tennis was a bronze in women’s singles at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.
Lin Yun-ju, seeded fifth in men’s singles, and Taiwan’s top table tennis champion, Chuang Chih-yuan, advanced to the next round of men’s singles.
After his mixed doubles win on Monday night, the 19-year old Lin went on to win in the single’s match the next morning. As for Chuang, who is 40 this year, it’s his fifth time competing in the Olympics. This time he was there without his coach, because he gave that seat to his mother, who has always supported him in the sport ever since he was little. Chuang is currently ranked 26th in the world.
The young Lin and the veteran player Chuang are making Taiwan proud at the Tokyo Olympics.