Olympic gold medalists Wang Chi-lin and Lee Yang win championship title at Japan Open

2023-07-30

And speaking of gold medal, the Olympian shuttlers are back! After a two-year dry spell, Olympic gold medalists Wang Chi-lin and Lee Yang took the championship title at the BWF Japan Open on Sunday. They defeated home team Hoki Takuro and Kobayashi Yugo in two straight sets 21:19, 21:13, marking their first championship title of the year. Their next objective is winning the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China and then the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Olympic badminton gold medalists Wang Chi-lin and Lee Yang fought their way into the championship match at the BWF Japan Open. Their rivals were world number five, Hoki Takuro and Kobayashi Yugo, who had the home court advantage.

To get into the finals, the pair had to get past world number one, Indonesia’s Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto. After routing them in two straight sets, they were able to sustain their winning momentum in the finals. Whether hitting or dashing, the pair put on a show on the court. Although the Japanese team actively fought back in the second half, tying the score at one point, the pair kept up their strong attack to take the game point, finally winning the first game 21:19.

In the second game, the two teams continued their fierce battle. After winning a point from Lee’s surprise long shot into the corner of their opponents’ back court, the Taiwan team continued leading 11:7 until a technical timeout was called. In the second half, the Japanese made a series of serving errors, allowing the Taiwan team to extend their lead before seizing the match 21:13 in two straight sets.

The win effectively ended a two-year dry spell of zero championship titles for the pair, who couldn’t hold back their excitement on the court. Wang and Lee came out of a slump and reached the finals for the first time after their loss at the finals of the Taipei Open last year. The win at the Japan Open is not only their first win of the year, but also their first win since their victory at the Tokyo Olympics.

Now the duo have set their sights on the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, and after that, the 2024 Paris Olympics.

終結兩年冠軍荒!「麟洋配」日本公開賽奪冠

2023-07-30

東京奧運金牌得主、台灣「黃金男雙」李洋和王齊麟，在日本公開賽決賽以21:19、21:13直落二，擊退地主選手保木卓朗和小林優吾奪下金牌，這不但是兩人本季首座冠軍，也是繼兩人在東奥摘金之後，睽違兩年攜手奪下的第一冠。

台灣黃金男雙王齊麟和李洋一路過關斬將，闖進日本公開賽冠軍戰，對戰地主強敵，世界排名第五的保木卓朗和小林優吾。

上場比賽以直落二，擊退世界排名第一印尼組合亞飛安和亞迪安托，李洋和王齊麟延續氣勢，場上無論擊球還是跑位都流暢，雖然下半局日本組合積極反攻，一度把比數扳成平手，但兩人還是強攻拿下局點，最後也以21:19先下一城。

比賽進入到次局後，雙方繼續激烈纏鬥，在李洋一記突襲後場的長球得分後，帶動了得分氣勢，以11:7進入到技術暫停，下半局日本頻頻發球失誤，麟洋配持續擴大領先，最終以21:13直落二，拿下日本公開賽男雙冠軍。

結束長達兩年的冠軍荒，兩人興奮的在場上慶祝，王齊麟和李洋擺脫低潮，去年台北公開賽後首度打進決賽，這次又在日本公開賽一舉奪金，奪下今年首冠，同時也是奧運過後的第一冠。

麟洋配放眼接下來的杭州亞運以及明年的巴黎奧運。

Team Taiwan has gained a gold medal in taichi at the 2023 World University Games

2023-07-30

Taiwanese officials stopped Taiwan’s team from showing the national flag at sports event

2023-07-30

Spotlight on Taiwanese-Australian singer and songwriter Kim Yang

Today we take you to meet Taiwanese-Australian singer and songwriter Kim Yang. Her music career began in 2009 after auditioning for Taiwan’s "Super Idol." Since then, she has performed in many countries, sharing her stories and experiences. Her next concert will be in Taipei on Aug.11. FTV reporter Stephany Yang caught up with the singer-songwriter to discover the inspiration behind her songs.

This is Kim Yang, a Taiwanese-Australian indie folk singer-songwriter. Many of her songs are about human vulnerability and strength. The song "Brave" hopes to inspire people to say "no" and not be afraid to set healthy boundaries.

Kim Yang
Singer-songwriter
"Brave" is a song that I wrote after I had a mental meltdown. As an emerging artist, I had to say yes to a lot of things, a lot of jobs even though I did not want to do them at all. I guess I just tried so hard to get my name out there. I wrote this song after a mental meltdown, and I realized that I really need to be brave enough to say "no," to look after myself. I hope that people can do that too, especially for young women in any industry, really.

Yang lived in Taiwan till she was 24. Since she was young, she was always passionate about music. She auditioned for Taiwan’s "Super Idol" in 2009 but didn’t start singing full-time until she moved to Canberra.

This song written by Yang is titled "Fantasy," and it’s dedicated to her parents.

Kim Yang
Singer-songwriter
To be honest, my parents were kind of reserved about me doing music full-time. At the time, when I told them about doing music full-time, they were really shocked. They were like, "How are you going to feed yourself? Do you have enough money?" I love Taiwan and I love my parents. Sometimes there are a bit of cultural differences. I probably learned a lot from Australia as well. This song "Fantasy" is really about me fantasizing about a bit more love and validation from my parents for me to be a musician.

Yang moved to Canberra in 2012, where she worked many different jobs. In 2017, she started writing songs in hopes of sharing her stories with the world. She busked around Canberra and performed in markets and cafes.

Kim Yang
Singer-songwriter
When I was in my late 20s, I had some regret I guess because I used to be on a TV show back in Taiwan here. It is called "Super Idol 3." I almost got a contract but I didn’t accept the recording contract. There was always "what ifs" in my life. What if tried? What if I give it a go? I did give it a go in my late 20s. Now, I have been performing since 2017. I got my own band, my own shows, sellout shows, and played in music festivals in Australia as well.

Since then, she has written numerous original songs and collaborated with renowned local artists, and played at major venues in Australia and around the world.

This original song by Yang, "Missed Chance," is a tribute to a young fan who encouraged her to keep pursuing music.

Kim Yang
Singer-songwriter
A little young girl she saw me on the TV show and she wrote me an email. I knew she was really sick. She had chemotherapy. Her mom wrote an email for her saying "Hey, my daughter really loved your music. Can you keep doing more music?" At that time, I gave up music after the TV show because I think I was only 19 or 20 because I got sad being criticized because once you get your name out there, there is always different noise. I was frustrated with the music. I didn’t want to do anything. I didn’t respond until three years later, but that email address became disconnected. I never knew how she is, whether she was still there or not and whether she recovered from chemotherapy. I also wrote a song to thank her.

With many new songs in the works, Yang hopes to continue singing and writing music to inspire more people to chase their dreams and share their stories.

2023-07-30

Use of the e-Gate system allowed for Taiwanese travelers starting July 30

Direct flights between Taipei and Prague were launched two weeks ago, and now e-Gate services at the two destinations have begun. The Czech Republic was already a major destination for Taiwanese travelers, and now officials expect that travel will pick up even more, paving the way for more exchanges between the two nations. One traveler says she would be more likely to visit Prague now that she has access to the e-Gate, while a travel blogger calls it welcoming news, given the typically long lines for immigration entry into the Czech Republic.

With either facial recognition or a thumbprint scan, getting through immigration takes less than 2 minutes using the automated e-Gate system, saving travelers’ time. The foreign ministry has announced that travelers to Prague can also now take advantage of e-Gate, starting July 30.

Traveler
I think it’s much more convenient, because you can get through immigration faster. There’s no need to go through all the troublesome procedures.

Traveler
E-Gate saves a lot of time.

Less than two weeks ago, direct flights were launched between Taipei and Prague. Those flights, operated by Taiwanese carriers, were warmly welcomed by the speaker of the Czech Parliament and the mayor of Prague, bringing the two countries even closer. The Czech Republic is a popular destination for Taiwanese travelers, and before the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 190,000 Taiwanese visited the Eastern European country annually. In April, following the lifting of pandemic restrictions, Taiwanese accounted for the highest increase in tourist numbers to the Czech Republic. Now, with the launch of direct flights and e-Gate service, there are bound to be even more Taiwanese making the trip.

943
Travel writer
This is a great benefit for Taiwanese travelers. The Czech Republic is an important gateway into Europe. It has beautiful sights, but the lineups to get through immigration are typically quite long. Before the pandemic when I traveled to Europe for work, I discovered that Italy and Germany had special measures to benefit passengers from Taiwan.

Several countries including the U.S., South Korea, Australia and Italy, among others, have already allowed Taiwanese to use e-Gate for entry. Now the Czech Republic has become the ninth country to allow automated entry through the system. With direct flights and e-Gate in place, Taiwan and the Czech Republic are now brought even closer together, paving the way for expanded exchanges between the two countries.

2023-07-30

New technology responds to rising demand for customized travel plans

Tourism is changing. The end of the pandemic has accelerated trends for personalized, unique travel experiences. The one-size-fits-all tours of the past are fast losing favor with the younger generation. But for travel agencies, organizing a personalized tour is a big ask. That means rising demand for digital tools to facilitate the complex, unique plans travelers want. Today we meet one tech company which heard the call, creating a digital program to streamline customized tour bookings.

Since global borders reopened, international travel is booming – and so is demand for private experiences at destinations and connection with local culture. Now a tech company has developed a system for that niche, enabling travel agents to easily take highly personalized bookings.

Yang Ching-tang
Travel technology industry
Compared to the big tour groups of the past, customized travel certainly is better at meeting each traveler’s image of their trip, or their hopes and expectations. So we want to provide digital tools and digital solutions for travel companies, so they have a chance to align with the market here.

Entering the system, you open a new request, and search for itinerary options. At the end, a cost estimate is produced, and before long, a customized booking is complete.

Chang Ya-lin
Software engineer
Having to make bookings at many hotels and destinations and things like that actually really adds to the workload of the tour operators. Using this system, it can produce a booking form automatically, very fast, after you’ve created an itinerary.

Traditionally, part of a travel agent’s job is to manually complete booking forms, and phone up each business on the itinerary to confirm costs and details. But at least half of that work is skipped with this system, with imports elements from a database. It can take a half or just a third of the time to complete.

Lien Pei-ling
Travel agency
Copying it down manually can take five or 10 minutes or even more. But the system produces it with one click in two or three seconds.

Yang Ching-tang
Travel technology industry
We can create more junctures for change in the market. Another thing is, from now on for the traveler every journey can be meaningful, because they took part in designing the itinerary.

The pandemic has accelerated digitalization of the travel industry. Formulaic tours are no longer good enough for the generation that has a smartphone at its fingertips 24/7. The age of personalized travel is here.

2023-07-30

Restaurant review and food delivery platforms hold fair in Taipei and satiate 15,000

2023-07-30

3D printing allows a whole set of dentures to be made in one day

Dentures are increasingly common in Taiwan’s aging society. Now digital technology provides more options to produce dentures quickly and easily. 3D printing allows a whole set of teeth to be made in one day. A patient can walk into the dental clinic in the morning and leave with dentures in their mouth that afternoon. In the past, that process would take a minimum of two weeks. Let’s now step into a clinic to see the work in action.

a dentist scans the patient’s mouth with a tiny camera. In real time, a 3D model appears on the computer screen. These days, a set of dentures can be made in one day. Dentists work with dental technicians to immediately 3D print the new dentures in the clinic.

Hsieh Yi-hsun
CAD/CAM engineer
The doctor scans the mouth, and then sends us the file. The advantage of digital is that when you look at it here it’s very clear.

The image is magnified again and again. Every corner of the mouth is clear. The model can forecast how the jaws will meet in a bite. After the technician has designed a denture, the ceramics are put into a grinder and cut into shape in about six minutes.

Voice of Hsieh Yi-hsun
CAD/CAM engineer
The teeth which are cut for us by the machine are about 80% finished. Then they need to be worked on in post by the technician.

It’s the technician’s time to shine. They correct the grain on the dentures’ surface in 10 minutes. A photo is used to dye them in another 10 minutes, mimicking the translucence of tooth enamel. Finally they go in a high-temperature ceramics oven to fix the color.

Hsieh Yi-hsun
CAD/CAM engineer
Compared to the traditional method, mistakes are likely to be smaller. We can complete a single molar in about half an hour, including the design and processing. If we need to do a full set of 28 teeth for the patient, it’s no problem to finish it all in one day.

Lin Yu-shu
Dentist
Some older people may be infirm, and it’s inconvenient for them to come into the clinic. We can now complete the dentures for them in one day. Traditionally, for example, there might be issues with the fitting and we would have to send the dentures back to the technicians.

In the past, dentures would be made by hand in a technical workshop. It would take about two weeks, and longer if adjustments were needed. But with a 3D printer, it just takes one day and is all done on the spot in the clinic, increasing efficiency and reducing errors. The only catch is the cost.

Liu Sung-ho
Industrial Technology Research Institute
Digital design and 3D printing basically use the same materials as traditional methods, or even better. Now we’re bringing titanium alloys into various applications. Compared to traditional metals, it’s lighter in weight but stronger.

As Taiwan’s population ages, demand for dentures is always growing. These digital technologies can make the production of false teeth easier and swifter, and give patients more options.

2023-07-30

Typhoon Khanun to brush by Taiwan with its full effects felt on Tuesday and Wednesday

2023-07-30