Taipei Times
Date: Jan 12, 2017
By: AFP, AUCKLAND, New Zealand

Injury and upsets hit the ATP Auckland Classic yesterday — while Taiwanese hope Lu Yen-hsun was

eliminated — with illness forcing out top seed Roberto Bautista-Agut and David Ferrer’s bid for a record fifth title ending with a whimper.

Steve Johnson of the US defeated Lu 6-4, 7-6 (7/4).

The world No. 33 won in 1 hour, 28 minutes, winning 52 of the 100 points contested.
Lu posted a Chinese-language report on Facebook that said Johnson won most of the key points and had luck on his side.

Lu said after the game that he had not played badly and he was confident heading to Melbourne for the Australian Open starting on Monday next week, according to the report.

Sixth seed Feliciano Lopez conceded a walkover, while John Isner and Marcos Baghdatis both flirted with disaster against unfancied second-round opponents.

The only seed to display any type of dominance was fourth-seeded Jack Sock, who showed a clean pair of heels dispatching fellow American Ryan Harrison 7-6 (7/5), 4-6, 6-1.

Defending champion Bautista-Agut of Spain was the first to exit, pulling out of the Australian Open warm-up tournament with a stomach bug.

His third-seeded compatriot Ferrer soon followed, shattering his dream of adding to the record of four Auckland titles he shares with Australian Rod Emerson.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: , Jan 11, 2017
By: AP

Taiwan’s Lu Yen-hsun advanced in a thriller at the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand, yesterday,

while the tournament lost its first seeded player yesterday when Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinola was beaten 6-1, 7-5 in the first round by close friend and training partner Joao Sousa.

Lu defeated Karen Khachanov of Russia 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (11/9) in their first-round encounter despite battling illness.

Lu posted a Chinese-language report on Facebook that said the travel from India to Auckland made it difficult, but he was happy to prevail.

Lu faces Steve Jason of the US today.

Ramos-Vinola and Portugal’s Sousa — both based in Barcelona, but supporters of the city’s rival soccer clubs — described their match as “a kind of a derby.”

“On court we are no friends, but off court we are,” Sousa said.    [FULL  STORY]

‘They need to build a whole system…That includes creating footballing parents, who know how to take care of their kids and help their talent.’

The News Lens
Date: 2017/01/09
By: James Baron

Cosi O Cosi on Dunhua South Rd. has been a mainstay of Taipei’s dining scene for over a decade now, but the crowd gathered there wasn’t there for the crostini or gelato. An Italian restaurant might not seem like an appropriate setting for the launch of new soccer initiative in Taiwan, but when the project involves English Premier League leaders Chelsea Football Club, the venue kind of makes sense.

Chelsea’s Italian ties are strong: Current manager Antonio Conte is the fifth of his countrymen to helm the West London side. Previous managers include two former players Roberto di Matteo and Gianluca Vialli, who were trailblazing Italian imports to the EPL in the mid-1990s.

But, Italian connections aside, why on earth would Chelsea be bringing the razzle-dazzle of the EPL to Taiwan, a backwater of international football, currently ranked 157th in the world? As Chelsea’s signature “Blue is the Colour” plays in the background, former Taiwan international Andy Chen (陳信安) explains.   [FULL  STORY]

‘BIT OF LUCK’:Alize Cornet faces Karolina Pliskova in the singles final in Brisbane after her opponent, Garbine Muguruza, withdrew from their semi-final ‘exhausted’

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 07, 2017
By: Dave Carroll / Staff reporter, with AFP, BRISBANE, Australia

Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei was ousted by a former partner in the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the

Brisbane International yesterday, while Alize Cornet reached her biggest final in more than two years in the singles.

Hsieh and Laura Siegemund fell to a 6-4, 6-3 defeat to top seeds Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the US and India’s Sania Mirza, a former partner of the Kaohsiung-born former doubles world No. 1.

The Taiwanese-German duo saved six of 11 break points, but converted just three of nine as they exited the tournament in 70 minutes.

Mattek-Sands and Mirza take on Russians Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina in today’s final after the second seeds defeated third seeds Abigail Spears of the US and Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia 6-1, 6-3 in 62 minutes in yesterday’s other semi-final.

In the singles, Cornet advanced after an “exhausted” Garbine Muguruza withdrew from their semi-final.

The unseeded Frenchwoman was leading her Spanish opponent 4-1 in the first set when Muguruza decided she could not continue.

Although the official reason was a right-thigh injury, the fourth-seeded Spaniard, who had spent more than seven hours on court in her first three rounds, conceded later that she was physically spent.

“I just felt, like, a little bit exhausted on the court and I have been dealing, you know, with tiredness and issues with all these hard matches I have been playing, and today I was far from 100 percent,” Muguruza said.    [FULL  STORY]

Singer safe but out of 3rd stage of motorbike rally

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/01/04
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwanese singer and actor Richie Jen hit a tree while participating in the Dakar

Rally for motorcycles in Argentina, reports said Wednesday.

Jen, 50, informed his friends and relatives that doctors had concluded nothing hd been broken and he only needed some rest.

The 19th edition of the rally had left the Paraguayan capital of Asuncion on Monday, and it was close to the end of the second leg, on January 3, from Resistencia to San Miguel de Tucuman in Argentina, that Jen reportedly lost control over his bike. The machine hit a tree and the singer was thrown off, reports said.

A helicopter airlifted him back to base, where X-rays showed no serious injuries. He would however be unable to continue in the race for the time being, having to rest and recover, he wrote on his Facebook page.

In the first stage, Jen had finished 134th on a Chinese-made Zongshen motorbike.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/01/05
By: Lu Hsin-hui and Y.F. Low

Taipei, Jan. 5 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said Thursday that the government will actively train

and help a new generation of athletes.

Tsai was speaking during a meeting with ultramarathon runner Tommy Chen (陳彥博), who won the 4 Deserts Race Series title in 2016.

She praised Chen for being the first Asian runner to win the title and called him “the pride of Taiwan.”

She also expressed her appreciation to Chen’s coach, Pan Jui-ken (潘瑞根), and conveyed her congratulations to Chen’s parents, saying that having his family’s understanding and support was what has enabled Chen to become such a persevering person.   [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 06, 2017
By: Dave Carroll / Staff reporter, with AFP, BRISBANE, Australia

Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the Brisbane International

yesterday, while world No. 1 Angelique Kerber crashed out of the quarter-finals of the singles.

Former doubles world No. 1 Hsieh and Laura Siegemund rallied from a set down to oust fourth seeds Andreja Klepac of Slovenia and Maria Jose Matinez Sanchez of Spain 6-7 (7/9), 6-2, 10-2 in 1 hour, 49 minutes.

The Taiwanese-German duo saved three of seven break points and converted six of eight, winning 81 of the 139 points contested to advance to a semi-final against top seeds Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the US and Hsieh’s former partner Sania Mirza of India.
In the singles, the tournament lost its top two women’s seeds when Kerber and Dominika Cibulkova were both bundled out in the quarter-finals.

World No. 1 Kerber made 48 unforced errors, including five double faults, as she went down to Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, while Frenchwoman Alize Cornet eliminated Cibulkova 6-3, 7-5.    [FULL  STORY]