Taipei, Feb. 13 (CNA) Chen Kuei-ru (陳奎儒) bagged Taiwan's second medal at the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships with silver in the men's 60 meters hurdles final Sunday in Astana, Kazakhstan.
Chen finished second behind Kazakhstan's David Yefremov, crossing the finish line in 7.68 seconds.
Chen's time was 0.02 seconds short of his own national record of 7.66 seconds, which the Taiwanese hurdler set at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Serbia last year.
"It is a shame that it was so close (to the national record). I'll adjust myself after going back to Taiwan," Chen told CNA in a phone interview, saying that the goal set by him and his coach Wang Guo-hui (王國輝) was to break the national record.
The men's 60m hurdles was divided into three heats held on Feb. 11, with only the top two in each heat and the two fastest third-placed finishers advancing to the finals. Chen finished second in his heat with a time of 7.74 seconds.
Experienced as the hurdler was, the tournament in Astana was still unique for the 29-year-old Chen, courtesy of daily temperatures some 20 degrees below Celsius.
"I was really excited when seeing snow for the first time, so I went outdoors to take a few photos of it and touch it to learn what it feels like. But it was too cold, so I only lingered for about five minutes," Chen said.
Also representing Taiwan in Astana are Lin Yu-tang (林昱堂) and Wen Hua-yu (文華佑), who finished first and fourth, respectively, in the men's long jump, and Li Yun-chen (李允辰), who finished sixth in the men's triple jump.
