Looking out for each other
The close-knit nature of the men’s archery team helps raise morale during competitions. Team coach Liu Chan-ming says that this was not the first time these three men were on the same team, so they already had some chemistry. Moreover, before their Olympic event, they had already simulated numerous competition scenarios and practiced shooting in different orders. “When the wind is stronger, Ah-Wei [Wei Chun-heng] goes first. His draw weight is heavier, so he is not so greatly affected by the wind, and then he can relay the information from his shooting to his younger teammates. Yu-cheng is calm and steady, so he goes second. Chih-chun has a faster rhythm, so he can be put in the first position or the third position.”
The coherence and teamwork of the archery squad is known to all at the National Sports Training Center. Liu says with a smile: “Both our men’s and women’s teams like to go out to eat or catch a movie together on days off.”
Auria Kuo still recalls that when she performed acupuncture on Wei before the Tokyo Olympics event, Tang stood off to one side carefully observing the process. Kuo says with a laugh: “When I moved forward, he followed me forward, and when I moved to the back, he followed me back.” It turns out that Tang wanted to memorize the locations of the acupuncture points, so he could give his teammate a massage during competitions to help him relax his muscles, despite the fact that in individual events Wei would become his opponent.
Following the Tokyo Olympics, the three archers took a little time off, then went on to new challenges. Wei competed in the 2021 World Archery Championships, where he won a bronze in the men’s team event. Deng and Tang, meanwhile, respectively won gold and silver medals in the men’s team event at the National Games. Next they will take part in the selection competition to represent Taiwan at the 2022 Asian Games. Although there are only limited spots available, they have always maintained an attitude of “shooting happily and enjoying the competition.” No matter who enters what event, they always cheer each other on. This is because each match is a new beginning, and in archery, ultimately the only enemy is yourself.
Wei Chun-heng is the team’s “older brother.” At the archery range he often gives fist bumps and looks of approval to his younger teammates, Deng Yu-cheng and Tang Chih-chun, for their good shooting.
As budding athletes, Tang Chih-chun (left) and Deng Yu-cheng (right) both made the national team in senior high school.
Coach Liu Chan-ming (right) cares very much about his athletes, both in their training and in their everyday lives. Even if their performance on the archery range is sometimes inconsistent, he still has a great deal of confidence in them.