GAFFE:In the World Group, the US Tennis Association issued an apology after it played a version of the German national anthem dating back to World War II

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 13, 2017
By: Dave Carroll / Staff reporter, with AFP, PARIS

Taiwan’s Chang Kai-chen defeated Russia’s Anna Blinkova 6-3, 7-5 in the second

singles rubber of their Fed Cup World Group II tie at the Druzhba Arena in Moscow on Saturday to square the contest 1-1 after the first day’s play.

Taiwan had fallen behind earlier when Ekaterina Makarova beat Lee Ya-hsuan 6-3, 5-7, 6-1 in 2 hours, 18 minutes in the opening singles rubber.

The Russian world No. 39 fired down seven aces and converted seven of 17 break points, winning 105 of the 198 points contested to overpower the Taiwanese world No. 258.

However, world No. 121 Chang converted eight of 16 break points, winning 74 of the 130 points contested against 160th-ranked Blinkova in 1 hour, 23 minutes to level the tie going into yesterday’s reverse singles and doubles rubbers.   [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 09, 2017
By: Jason Pan / Staff reporter

The organizers of the WTA Taiwan Open called for more financial support from

Taiwanese corporations and the government as the event ran at a loss, despite improved ticket sales, as well as attention on the city in international media.

“It was good to see bigger crowds at the Taipei Arena for the matches, especially in the latter parts of the competition. Ticket sales this year brought in about NT$5 million [US$160,627], about a 20 percent increase from last year,” WTA Taiwan Open organizing committee executive director Yang Hui-ju said at a media briefing on Monday.

The increased ticket sales will mean we are running a smaller deficit, because the expenses for the tournament are about NT$80 million, Yang said.   [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: February 9, 2017
By: James Lo

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Local welterweight MMA fighter Jeff “The Machine” Huang (黃育仁)

will take on undefeated Malaysian prospect Agilan Thani on Friday.

Huang is widely considered the nation’s top welterweight fighter and will represent Chinese Taipei at “ONE Championship: Throne of Tigers” at the 12,000-seat Stadium Negara in Kuala Lumpur.

The fighter currently holds a record of six wins and two losses, and all of his victories have been either TKOs or submissions.

He previously scored a first-round stoppage win over Indian kickboxer Bala Shetty in his July 2014 promotional debut and followed the win by submitting Indonesian veteran Zuli Silawanto with a first-round rear-naked choke four months later.

In his third assignment as a ONE Championship athlete, Huang finished Filipino fighter Trestle Tan with a furious punching combination to earn a scintillating first-round technical knockout in November 2015.

He previously scored a first-round stoppage win over Indian kickboxer Bala Shetty in his July 2014 promotional debut and followed the win by submitting Indonesian veteran Zuli Silawanto with a first-round rear-naked choke four months later.

In his third assignment as a ONE Championship athlete, Huang finished Filipino fighter Trestle Tan with a furious punching combination to earn a scintillating first-round technical knockout in November 2015.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/02/07
By: Yang Ming-chu and Ko Lin

Tokyo, Feb. 6 (CNA) Taiwan Go master Hsieh Yi-min (謝依旻) succeeded in defending

her Kisei title against challenger Nyu Eiko at the 20th NTT DoCoMo Female Kisei Go Tournament in Tokyo on Monday, taking 5 million Japanese yen (NT$1.37 million) in prize money.

Hsieh went up against Eiko in the final match of the contest, upsetting the 17-year-old Japanese in a 2-to-1 victory to grasp the Kisei championship title for the fifth straight year.

Hsieh, who lives in Japan, has been a Honinbo champion since 2007, aged just 17. Honinbo is recognized as the oldest and most prestigious Go tournament title in Japan, dating back to 1941.

She was introduced to Go at the age of 5, and later became a professional player in 2004, formally registering with the Japan Go Association when she was 14. She later won the Kisei title in 2010, making her the first female to win the three major tournaments in Japan’s professional Go scene.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post0
Date: February 5, 2017
By: CNA

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Top-seeded Taiwanese sisters Chan Yung-jan (詹詠然) and Chan Hao-ching （詹皓晴）took the WTA Taiwan Open women’s doubles title Sunday in the final against a pair from the Czech Republic.

The Chan sisters beat second-seeded Lucie Hradecka and Katerina Siniakova 6-4, 6-2 in two straight sets to win the title.
[FULL  STORY]

CZECH MATE: Second seeds Lucie Hradecka and Katerina Siniakova proved too hot to handle for Chan Chin-wei and Nicole Melichar, while Lee Ya-hsuan also crashed out

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 03, 2017
By: Dave Carroll and Jason Pan / Staff reporters

Taiwan’s Lee Ya-hsuan and Chan Chin-wei were both ousted in the quarter-finals of the

doubles at the Taiwan Open yesterday, while Elina Svitolina, one of the few surviving seeds, progressed to the quarter-finals of the singles in straight sets at the Taipei Arena.
Lee and Peangtarn Plipuech fell to a 2-6, 6-2, 10-7 comeback victory by Nao Hibino and Zhang Kailin in 69 minutes.

“It was disappointing for me. I had miscues and unforced errors several times, and lost the points and should have made some shots, but did not do it. For these mistakes, I want to apologize to my doubles partner,” Lee said.

“It was not a good performance from me today, it was worse than my opening match … I missed some block shots up front. When going to the net, I can get nervous and it showed,” Lee said. “In the second set, our opponents slowed the tempo and changed the pace of the game, and we were slow to make the adjustment.”    [FULL  STORY]

UPSETS:China’s Peng Shuai defeated Australian second seed Samantha Stosur, while sixth-seeded Misaki Doi of Japan lost to Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 04, 2017
By: Dave Carroll and Jason Pan / Staff reporters

Reigning champions the Chan sisters yesterday cruised into the semi-finals of the

doubles at the Taiwan Open, while the upsets continued in the singles as Peng Shuai defeated second seed Samantha Stosur and wild-card Lucie Safarova ousted sixth seed Misaki Doi.

Taiwanese top seeds Chan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan took just 58 minutes to see off Danka Kovinic of Montenegro and Magda Linette of Poland 6-1, 6-4.

The sisters, looking to retain the title they won in Kaohsiung last year, had their serve broken only once at 4-3 in the second set, but they broke straight back, one of the four out of six break points they converted.

“We made preparations for the match by watching them play the other day, so we developed a strategy against them,” Chan Yung-jan said. “In today’s match, we aimed to get the ball to areas where they could not play their favored return shots and at angles difficult for them to reach, forcing mistakes. We are pleased with how the match turned out, it was much better than our last outing earlier this week and one of our best recent performances.”    [FULL  STORY]

SLEEPY PARTNER:Chang Kai-chen said she apologized to Chuang Chia-jung because she could not raise her energy levels and at times felt sleepy during their match

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 02, 2017
By: Dave Carroll and Jason Pan / Staff reporters

The Chan sisters came out on top in an all-Taiwanese first-round doubles clash at the Taiwan Open

yesterday, while Chang Kai-chen and Chuang Chia-jung fell at the first hurdle at the Taipei Arena.

Top seeds Chan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan battled past fellow Taiwanese Hsieh Shu-ying and Hsu Ching-wen 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) in 1 hour, 38 minutes.

The Chan sisters saved three of five break points and converted three of 14, winning 77 of the 149 points contested to set up a semi-final against Danka Kovinic of Montenegro and Magda Linette of Poland, who earlier defeated Japanese duo Misaki Doi and Kurumi Nara 6-4, 4-6, 10-4 in 1 hour, 30 minutes.

In yesterday’s opening doubles match, Chang and Chuang fell to a 6-4, 6-4 first-round defeat to Nao Hibino of Japan and Zhang Kailin of China in 71 minutes.   [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 31, 2017
By: Dave Carroll / Staff reporter

Taiwanese wild-card Lee Ya-hsuan crashed out on the first day of the WTA Tour’s

Taiwan Open at the Taipei Arena yesterday, but there was something to cheer for the home crowd as Chan Chin-wei and Nicole Melichar advanced to the quarter-finals of the doubles.

Lee fell to a 6-3, 6-4 first-round defeat to seventh seed Shelby Rodgers in 72 minutes.

The American saved one of two break points and converted three of seven, winning 67 of the 113 points contested to advance to the second round.

“Although it was a defeat for me today, I have improved my game and I am moving in the right direction. The experience has also helped to bolster my confidence playing on indoor courts,” said Lee, who served up four double faults in the defeat.  [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/01/25
By: Taiwan News

(Taiwan News) – It must be an overwhelming feeling to be in the challenger’s position, standing across the cage from a champion who has been dominant in nearly all of her bouts. Five fights since making her professional mixed martial arts debut two years ago, Jenny Huang (5-0), who just celebrated her 26th birthday a few days earlier, is set to challenge ONE Women’s Atomweight World Champion Angela “Unstoppable” Lee (6-0).

Lee will be making the first defense of the inaugural women’s atomweight belt she earned in a hard-fought victory over Mei Yamaguchi last year at ONE: WARRIOR KINGDOM, set to take place at the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand on March 11.

The challenger, Huang, is young, undefeated, and has quickly built a reputation in the promotion as a crude grappler since she first stepped inside the ONE Championship cage in 2015. Out of Huang’s five total victories, three have come via impressive submission.   [FULL  STORY]