Taiwan snatches 2 more silvers in shooting, Kurash at Asian Games

Team Taiwan on Tuesday clinched two more silver medals, one in shooting and the other in Kurash, as well as a bronze in cycling at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, taking its medal tally to 37, including three golds and 10 silvers, and ranking 14th in the overall standings.

Taiwanese shooter Yang Kun-pi (楊昆弼) was one shot away from taking home the gold medal in the men’s individual trap shooting event before missing his final shot on Tuesday.

The 28-year-old ultimately finished with a score of 25, one shy of veteran Kuwaiti shooter Khaled Al-Mudhaf, who clinched the gold with a score of 26. China’s Qi Ying claimed the bronze with a score of 20.

Taiwanese shooter Yang Kun-pi.

Photo courtesy of Team Taiwan

Yang was the gold medalist in the men’s individual trap shooting event at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta.

After missing his final shot and failing to finish first, Yang told reporters that he did his best on every shot, but "just missed it [the last one]."

Yang said, however, that he believed he had shown significant improvement this time compared with his previous Asian Games appearance in Jakarta eight years ago.

Taiwan’s Shih Liu Li-ling celebrates celebrates her silver medal win in the women’s +87kg Kurash on Tuesday.

Photo: CNA

"I used to be terrified of making mistakes whenever I stepped onto the shooting range," he said.

Although he still felt nervous this time, Yang said he was able to deliver a stable performance.

"I want to thank my coach, who constantly reminds me of my weaknesses daily; he is my greatest supporter," he added.

In Kurash, Taiwan’s Shih Liu Li-ling (施劉俐伶) also took a silver medal after losing 5-0 to South Korea’s Kim Minyoung in the women’s +87kg event.

Shih Liu used to practice judo, but retired in 2022 after failing to be selected for Taiwan’s national squad in the sport.

She later became a judo coach in southern Pingtung County before taking up Kurash, a traditional martial art with roots in Central Asia, this February.

Given the similarities between judo and Kurash, Shih Liu improved rapidly in the sport. She clinched a silver medal at the Asian Senior Kurash Championship in June.

Shih Liu told reporters that she wanted to thank her mother for encouraging her to return to competitive sports.

She said winning a medal on her Asian Games debut felt like "checking a major item off her life’s bucket list."

In cycling, Taiwan’s Wang Sin-ting (王歆婷), Chen Ching-yun (陳靖云) and Liu Shang-ying (劉尚盈) took a bronze medal in the women’s team sprint, clocking 49.061 seconds, 0.076 seconds faster than Team Japan.

The medal was the first won by Taiwan’s national cycling team at the ongoing Asian Games in Japan. Taiwan did not win any cycling medals at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.