TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Taiwan's national university badminton squad suffered a disappointing 1-3 defeat against China in the mixed team finals at the Rhine-Ruhr FISU World University Games on Sunday (July 20). The loss dashed Taiwan's hopes for a historic third consecutive gold medal in the event, though the team still claimed a respectable silver medal finish in the international collegiate competition.
The Taiwanese squad had established an impressive legacy in university badminton, having captured gold medals at both the 2017 Taipei Universiade (台北世大運), hosted on home soil, and the 2021 Chengdu FISU World University Games (成都世大運) in China. Their championship quest began with disappointment as men's doubles competitors Willson Chen (陳子睿) and Lin Yu-Chieh (林煜傑) fell to China's Cui He-chen (崔赫宸) and Peng Jian-qin (彭建欽) in consecutive sets, 13-15 and 10-15. In women's singles, Wang Pei-Yu (王珮伃) showed initial promise with a 15-12 first-set victory over China's Yuan An-qi (袁安琪) before surrendering the match with 12-15 and 7-15 losses.
Taiwan salvaged pride when Su Li-Yang (蘇力揚) delivered the team's lone victory in men's singles, overcoming a first-set deficit to triumph 13-15, 16-14, and 15-12 in a thrilling comeback performance. The women's doubles pairing of Sung Yu-Hsuan (宋祐媗) and Jheng Yu-Chieh (鄭宇倢) could not maintain the momentum, falling 8-15 and 13-15 to seal Taiwan's fate. Team coach Feng Sheng-Chieh (馮勝杰) later emphasized the psychological importance of the opening men's doubles match, noting how early success can significantly boost team confidence in subsequent contests. ◼