Chinese Taipei began their gold rush at the Khalifa Soft Tennis Courts on Wednesday by claiming gold medals in men's and women's singles at the Doha Asian Games.

Wang Chun Yen won Chinese Taipei's second singles gold medal late Wednesday, just an hour after his teammate Chiang Wan Chi claimed the top honor in the women's soft tennis.

Wang faced tough Japanese Hidenori Shinohara, who had made short work of Nam Teak Ho of South Korea in the semifinals, but managed to hold off a Shinohara rally to win the six-game thriller.

The first two games saw both players fight to get the upper hand, but the experienced Wang, who came into the tournament having won the 2005 East Asian Games title, held nerve to win 5-3 and 4-2 comfortably.

But the stubborn Japanese fought back to win a third game at 9-7, only for Wang to open the gap again by taking the fourth at 4-2.

Although Shinohara clawed back to win the fifth 4-2, he was unable to cope as Wang raised his game in the sixth to win 5-3 and clinch the gold medal in 45 minutes.

In women's singles final, soft tennis veteran Chiang Wan Chi used a 4-1 win over China's Jiang Ting to give Chinese Taipei their first ever gold medal in soft tennis while Jiang's silver-medal-winning performance gave China the best ever medal in Asian Games soft tennis history.

The hard-hitting Chiang stamped her authority early on the match by claiming the first game 4-2.

The second game began in similar fashion, with Chiang dominating on every corner of the court. Jiang took a medical time-out citing an injury, but when the play resumed, a determined Chiang continued to apply the pressure on the Chinese player to take the second game 4-1.

Chiang repeated the dose in the third to win at 4-1.

Jiang's never-say-die attitude stood her in good stead and she clawed her way back into the match by winning the fourth game at 4-2.

But she was unable to withstand Chiang's incessant pressure and lost the fifth and the match 4-1.

(Xinhua News Agency December 7, 2006)