PARIS: Lin Yu-ting beat Svetlana Kamenova Staneva of Bulgaria by a unanimous decision in a featherweight quarter-final fight on Sunday to ensure Taiwan’s third boxing medal at the Paris Olympics.

Lin and Algeria’s Imane Khelif have been at the centre of a social media storm at the Games due to them being disqualified during the 2023 World Championships after falling foul of unspecified International Boxing Association (IBA) gender eligibility rules.

“I know all of Taiwan’s people are standing behind me and supporting me, and I will carry this energy to the end,” Lin said after her win.

“I received a lot of supporting messages. I did not read them because I shut down my social media platforms.”

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Sunday that the IBA tests carried out on the two fighters last year were illegitimate and lacked credibility.

“Those tests are not legitimate tests. The tests themselves, the process of the tests, the ad hoc nature of the tests are not legitimate,” IOC spokesperson Mark Adams told a press conference.

The boxing tournament in Paris is being organised by the IOC, which stripped the IBA of international recognition in 2023 over governance and finance issues.

On Friday, the Bulgarian Olympic Committee said it had voiced its concerns over the two boxers’ presence at the tournament during a meeting with the IOC’s Medical and Scientific Commission on July 27.

“Yu-ting is great!” Taiwan President Lai Ching-te wrote on his Facebook page after Lin’s victory.

“In recent days, Taiwan’s people have been indignant at the slander against her. Facing the challenge, Yu-ting is fearless and uses her strength to crush the rumours. Let us continue to cheer for her!”

MIXED RESULTS

In Sunday’s bout, the taller Lin attempted to sit back and let her opponent come to her in the first round, a strategy which had mixed results as she was struck with a few big shots.

In the second round, double world champion Lin was more direct and took the fight to Staneva, who showed her frustration by grappling Lin and pushing her on to the canvas.

With a 3-0 lead heading into the final round, Lin once again tried to be evasive and found herself on the floor when she was accidentally tripped by Staneva, who held open the ropes for the Taiwanese boxer to exit the ring at the end of the fight.

Lin, who will face Turkey’s Esra Yildiz in the semi-finals on Wednesday, is assured of a medal, adding to the efforts of compatriots Wu Shih-yi and Chen Nien-chin from Saturday.

In a statement released after the fight in support of Lin, the Taiwan Olympic Committee said it was “already clear” that the boxer was eligible for the Paris Olympics on the basis of the IOC’s rules.

“The delegation stands firmly by the athlete with full support and strongly condemns the malicious online abuse and personal attacks and calls for an immediate stop on those behaviours,” it said.

Algerian Khelif is also assured of at least bronze after winning her welterweight quarter-final against Hungary’s Luca Anna Hamori by unanimous decision on Saturday.

The debate over Khelif’s and Lin’s participation in the tournament rocketed after the Algerian won her round-of-16 bout in 46 seconds on Thursday, when her Italian opponent Angela Carini pulled out of the fight.

Carini was hit with multiple punches in the first 30 seconds, before raising her hand and returning to her corner to withdraw from the fight, saying she had felt intense pain and was worried about her own safety.

After the bout, Carini said she did not harbour any ill feeling towards the Algerian.

Published in Dawn, August 5th, 2024