Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/12/04
By: Li Chin-wei and S.C. Chang

Taipei, Dec. 4 (CNA) Second seeded Taiwanese duo Lee Yang (李洋) and Lee Jhe-huei (李哲輝)

came from behind to beat Chinese rivals Zhang Nan and Lu Kai to win the men’s doubles title of the 2016 Macau Badminton Open Sunday.

The Lees pair, 20th-ranked in the world, had a tough fight with Zhang and Lu who, paired for the first time after the Rio Olympics, trounced top seeded Taiwanese pair Chen Hung-ling (陳宏鱗) and Wang Chi-lin (王齊鱗) in the quarterfinals Friday.

Lee Yang and Lee Jhe-huei ceded the first game to Zhang and Lu 17-21 after a losing streak, though they had managed to tie at 3-3 early in the game.

In the second game, the Lees led 5-1 before being tied at 17-17. They then scored 2 points before changing serve, and continued to scored another 2 points to claim victory 21-18.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: December 5, 2016
By: CNA

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Major League Baseball player Wei-yin Chen (陳偉殷) demonstrates a pitch to non-

varsity college baseball players at a training camp in Taipei on Sunday, Dec. 4. The two-day camp, which concluded Sunday, was held at the National Taiwan University baseball stadium and saw several Taiwanese professional baseball players act as coaches.

From left, Taiwanese player Song Wei-hua, dressed as Iron Man; Japanese coach Masaaki Koike, as Japanese comedian Piko Taro; and Taiwanese player Wu Chih-wei, as the comic book character Thor, pose during the camp’s “rookie day” on Sunday.    [SOURCE]

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 04, 2016
By: Cobus du Plessis / Staff reporter

Taiwanese judo black belt Jenny Huang remained undefeated as she clinched the first-ever foot choke

victory in ONE Championship history, overcoming a near-dominant performance from the Philippines’ April Osenio in their women’s atomweight (47.7kg to 52.2kg) bout on Friday.

Huang had her hands full in the third fight of the night in mixed martial arts organization ONE Championship’s “Age of Domination” event at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay, Philippines, but began to time her takedowns more efficiently and finished the bout 4 minutes, 28 seconds into the second round.

The submission victory is 25-year-old Huang’s third in five pro fights.
On whether she thinks the win earned her a shot at Angela Lee’s world championship belt, Huang, Taiwan’s first professional female mixed martial artist, was hesitant.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/12/01
By: Lee Chin-wei and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, Dec. 1 (CNA) Taiwanese ultramarathon runner Tommy Chen (陳彥博) took second place in the

recently concluded 250-kilometer Last Desert 2016 race in Antarctica, to take the crown as champion of the 4 Deserts Race Series this year, making him the first Asian runner to complete the series in one calendar year.

Before the Antarctica race, Chen was on top after finishing the three other races in the series with the highest accumulated score, leading the second- and third-placed runners by four points and seven points, respectively, which made him particularly cautious about the final race.

The Antarctica race presented a daunting physical and psychological challenge to Chen because in addition to suffering serious foot injuries, he had to cope with the severity of weather conditions that can include gale force blizzards and temperatures down to minus 20 degrees Celsius.

Despite the pressure, however, Chen eventually fulfilled his quest of winning the 4 Deserts Race Series title.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/12/01
By: Lee Ching-wei and Lilian Wu

Taipei, Dec. 1 (CNA) Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying (戴資穎) has been formally ranked as the world’s No. 1

player in women’s badminton, unseating Carolina Marin of Spain, according to the Badminton World Federation (BWF).

In the latest world rankings published Thursday by the BWF, Tai was listed as No. 1 with 78,651 points, followed by Olympic gold medalist Marin with 77,750 points.

Tai unseated Marin after beating P. V. Sindhu of India on Sunday to take the women’s singles title at the Yonex Sunrise Hong Kong Open Sunday.

Prior to that win, Tai was ranked third in the world with 74,491 points.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 01, 2016
By: Staff writer, with CNA

Taiwanese pitcher Wang Chien-ming, who arrived home yesterday for a month-long stay, said he is

hoping to play Major League Baseball next year, but will also consider retiring if he does not find the right situation.

“I do not have any expectations. If there is a team that wants me, I will play. If there is not, [I might] retire,” Wang said on arrival at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport. “My agents are in contact with teams. I have not heard anything.”

Wang was designated for assignment by his former team, the Kansas City Royals, in September, meaning he was removed from the team’s 40-man roster and essentially let go.

The 36-year-old Wang is now a free agent, but asked by reporters about his hopes were for next year, Wang said he was not thinking too much about where his career will take him.

Looking back at his performance this season, Wang said he did his best.
“All these years of training were meant to prepare me for the moment this year,” he said. “Even though I did not play too many games, I made the most of every opportunity I had.”

Wang said he would attend a baseball camp in Pingtung County from Tuesday through Friday next week and join players from the Chinese Professional Baseball League in a charity golf event in Miaoli County on Dec. 28.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/11/27
By: Tyson Lu and Y.F. Low

Taipei, Nov. 27 (CNA) The 2016 Taiwan Open of Surfing concluded Sunday after four days of

competition, with French competitors taking two of the top prizes.

The competition, which took place from Nov. 23 to 27 at the fishing port of Jinzun in Taitung County, was co-organized by the Taitung County government and the World Surf League (WSL) as part of the WSL world tournaments.

Edouard Delpero of France won the men’s longboard event with a total score of 17.50, and the women’s shortboard title went to Uhaina Joly of France.

In the men’s shortboard event, Oney Anwar of Indonesia was crowned the champion with a total score of 15.25, defeating Cody Robinson of Australia.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: November 28, 2016
By: Sun Hsin Hsuan

Twenty-two-year-old Taiwanese player Tai Tzu-ying (戴資穎) won the women’s singles title at the Hong

Kong Open Badminton Championships on Sunday, catapulting her to the world No. 1 spot.

Tai defeated Indian player Pusarla V. Sindhu, ranked world No. 9, 21:15, 21:17, on Sunday evening, bringing home her second Hong Kong Open title since 2014.

The victory also solidified her spot as the world No. 1 female badminton player in next week’s rankings.

Tai ranked No. 3 in the world ranking last week, with 74,491 points. Spain’s Carolina Marin stood at No. 1 with 80.530 points.

Marin was the champion at the Hong Kong Open last year, but Tai didn’t make it into the top eight.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/11/26
By: Lee Yu-cheng and Romulo Huang

Taipei, Nov. 26 (CNA) Tai Tzu-ying (戴資穎), Taiwan’s top female badminton player, reached the

women’s singles final of the Yonex Sunrise Hong Kong Open 2016 after upsetting world No. 1 and Olympic gold medalist Carolina Marin of Spain in the semifinals on Saturday.

Tai, currently ranked third in the world but seeded fourth in Hong Kong got past Marin 21-17, 14-21, 21-16 in a match that lasted over an hour and saw several swings in momentum.

After the two split the first two games, Marin appeared headed for victory when she built a 15-12 lead in the third.

But Tai dipped into her bag of deceptive shots to keep Marin off balance and pull of a comeback victory.

“In the beginning of the third, Carolina was very fast and I couldn’t catch up,” Tai was quoted as saying on the Badminton World Federation website.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Nov 27, 2016
By: Jason Pan / Staff reporter

The Uni-President Lions and the Brothers lost their managers this week in a major shakeup that took

Taiwan’s pro baseball scene by surprise.

Wu Fu-lien lost his job, with the Brothers on Friday announced his dismissal, along with his entire coaching staff.

“I respect the ballclub’s decision,” Wu said. “It is expected that I take responsibility for losing in the finals. However, failure to capture the title does not mean we are a bad team. The players and the coaching staff have done their best.”

Brothers supporters and pundits were caught by surprise, as Wu led the club to the top of the table in the regular season this year, finishing 68-50, although they were beaten 4-2 in the Taiwan Series by the EDA Rhinos.

The league might get a manager from Major League Baseball next season, as Chinatrust executives said they are exploring that possibility.    [FULL  STORY]