ROC Hoopsters Take Gold at East Asian Games

In the middle of May the second East Asian Games were held in Pusan, South Korea. During the 10 days of tightly scheduled competitions, athletes from nine different Asian nations and territories competed in 13 different sports. Mainland China, Japan and South Korea topped the medals chart, but ROC athletes also performed well, especially the men's basketball team, which won a thrilling one-point victory over South Korea to earn their first gold medal in over 43 years of international competition.

The only unpleasant note was struck on the diplomatic front, when Taiwan and Korea exchanged harsh words over Korea's unceremonious treatment of ROC officials. As a result, Korea threatened to revoke Taiwan's eligibility to compete, and the ROC delegation at the games filed a letter of protest.

The ROC team achieved splendid results, garnering eight gold, 22 silver and 19 bronze medals. Although the tally fell behind that of mainland China, Japan, Korea and Kazakhstan, it was an improvement over the two golds and 17 silvers the ROC won at the first East Asian Games, and it increases the team's confidence as it prepares for next year's Asian Games in Bangkok. The Ministry of Education, meanwhile, announced that it would divide nearly NT$10 million among the gold medal winners.

The ROC team was most outstanding in women's weightlifting, with Chu Nan-mei in the second weight class, Kuo Pin-chun in the third, Chen Jui-lien in the fifth, and Huang Hsi-li in the seventh each taking golds. All told, ROC women weightlifters nabbed four golds and five silvers, with every athlete competing taking a medal. Such brilliant across-the-board performance reveals tremendous potential. Other golds were won by Chan Ming-shu in men's tai chi, Chen Feng in single men's badminton, and Hsu Chih-ling in the third weight class of women's taekwondo, as well as the surprising men's basketball team.

The men defeated mainland China for the first time in 11 years, by a wide margin of 17 points, before winning in the finals over South Korea, which had defeated Taiwan by 10 points in first-round pool play. A victory in the final over the home team, with local Korean fans passionately rooting their team on, was no easy feat. Minister of Education Wu Jin praised the members of the ROC team for possessing "courageous spirit" that enabled them to win.

In track and field, judo, and soft tennis, however, Taiwan was not able to win golds. ROC track and field, in fact, has taken a step backward. At the last East Asian Games, the ROC team took three golds, a silver and five bronzes. This year, Taiwan came back with only three silvers and three bronzes. We'll have to step up our track and field efforts.

In reviewing the nation's showing, the ROC delegation saw providing equipment for basic athletic training and improving events training as the two most pressing needs. Our athletes, moreover, have often failed for a lack of endurance. In Pusan the ROC men and women showed improvement on this score, but their reaction abilities still seemed to flag in comparison with the top athletes from other nations.

Viewed as a warmup for those games, the East Asian Games in Pusan showed more than the need to strengthen athletic ability in every event. When ROC Minister of Education Wu Jin was denied a VIP card at the last moment, thus leading to fervent behind-the-scenes protests by our delegation that in turn caused South Korea to accuse the ROC of "playing politics" and to threaten barring ROC athletes from competing, it showed that the Taiwan can't avoid politics at international athletics competitions. Wu Jin holds that while we do indeed get mistreated at these international meets, we must be firm in our commitment to attend them. He emphasized that he would still be in the stands in Bangkok next year, and urged the athletes and coaches who serve as the locomotive of national athletics to keep training hard.