Sports

Taiwan keeps singles titles home at Taipei badminton open

The China Post
Date: July 4, 2016
By: CNA

TAIPEI — Taiwanese badminton players Tai Tzu-ying (戴資穎) and Chou Tien-chen (周天成)

Badminton player Tai Tzu-ying (戴資穎) shows off her medal after beating Chinese ace Wang Shixian (王適嫻) in the women's singles final of the YONEX Chinese Taipei Open 2016 tournament on Sunday, July 3. (CNA)

Badminton player Tai Tzu-ying (戴資穎) shows off her medal after beating Chinese ace Wang Shixian (王適嫻) in the women’s singles final of the YONEX Chinese Taipei Open 2016 tournament on Sunday, July 3. (CNA)

kept the singles titles at the Yonex Chinese Taipei Open at home Sunday.

Tai, ranked world No. 9 as of June 30, took on No. 8 player Wang Shixian (王適嫻) of China in the women’s singles final of the six-day tournament held in Taipei Arena.

Tai beat Wang 23:21, 21:6 to grab her second singles title in the tournament, a Grand Prix Gold event which carries total prize money of US$200,000. She first won the tournament in 2012.

Tai said Wang is a fast runner and she won by keeping up with the Chinese player’s pace and seizing opportunities to launch attacks.

Following Tai’s victory, Chou, world No. 7 and two-time runner-up in the tournament — in 2012 and 2015 — triumphed over his No. 53 Chinese opponent Qiao Bin (喬斌) 21:18, 21:17 in the men’s singles final.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan little league team eliminated in controversial loss

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 03, 2016
By: Jason Pan / Staff reporter

Taiwan lost the chance to go to Williamsport, Pennsylvania, for the Little League Baseball World Series when hosts South Korea won the Asia-Pacific tournament’s final 7-6 in Seoul on Friday, while controversy surrounded the final out in a tight contest.

Taiwan, represented by Taoyuan’s Chung Ping Elementary School, were disappointed, but still received cheers from family members and supporters when they arrived back in the nation yesterday.

South Korea, represented by a team from the East Seoul Little League, are to travel to Williamsport for the series for baseballers aged 11 to 12 scheduled for Aug. 18 to Aug. 28.

Japan will send their team to Williamsport, being in a separate region from rest of the Asia-Pacific area.      [FULL  STORY]

Lu loses, Djokovic on precipice amid rain

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 03, 2016
By: AP and Reuters, London

A Novak Djokovic fightback was halted by rain, Nick Kyrgios and Dustin Brown served up a spectacular encounter, Serena Williams took her frustration out on a racket and Taiwan’s Lu Yen-hsun lost in the doubles at the rain-drenched Wimbledon tournament, where the schedule was in disarray yesterday.

The most shocking development on Friday was what was going on in Djokovic’s third-round match against 28th-seeded Sam Querrey of the US before it was suspended because of showers in the evening.

Djokovic, owner of a 30-match Grand Slam winning streak that includes the past four major titles, allowed Querrey to seize the first two sets 7-6 (8/6), 6-1 during their 72 minutes of action. Given the way things were going for the No. 1-seeded Djokovic, he had to be thrilled that the match was halted, giving him a night to rest and regroup.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan defeat Mongolia 2-0 in EAFF qualifier

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 03, 2016
By: Jason Pan / Staff reporter

Taiwan netted two goals in the second half against a scoreless, 10-man Mongolia in Guam

Taiwan’s Lin Chien-hsun controls the ball during their game against Mongolia in Guam yesterday. Photo provided by Chinese Taipei Football Association

Taiwan’s Lin Chien-hsun controls the ball during their game against Mongolia in Guam yesterday. Photo provided by Chinese Taipei Football Association

yesterday to win their second game of the East Asia Football Federation (EAFF) Championship qualifying tournament.

Taiwan coach Toshiaki Imai started with a 4-5-1 formation as he had in their first game on Thursday, but made five personnel changes, including resting in-form striker Wu Chun-ching in favor of Tseng Chih-wei and replacing goalkeeper Chiu Yu-hung with Pan Wen-chieh.

The five midfielders did not dominate the field and boss the opposition around as they had in their impressive 8-1 victory over the Northern Mariana Islands in the previous match, with the more experienced Mongolia players fighting for every inch of territory and forcing a scoreless stalemate in the first half.

The second half began with more open play, both sides having good chances in front of goal.

In the 52nd minute, Mongolia forward Bayarjargal Oyunbat was sent clear in front of goal, but goalkeeper Pan made a good save from a close-range shot.     [FULL  STORY]

Lamigo Monkeys’ Wang Po Jung is on the path to stardom

The China Post
Date: July 3, 2016
By: Brandon Dubreuil, Special to The China Post

TAIPEI, Taiwan — If you’re a baseball fan outside of Taiwan, chances are you’ve never heard of Wang Po Jung (王柏融). If you have, you probably only know him as the “bat-flipping maniac” as Deadspin recently dubbed him. While he does have one of the finest bat flips in all of baseball, he’s also one of the best young position players that this small island nation has ever produced. He’s a superstar in the making and a name that baseball fans around the world need to know.

Wang plays for the Lamigo Monkeys of the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) in Taiwan, where, as a rookie, he’s doing some pretty amazing things in a talented league made up mostly of veterans and ex-MLBers.

Take this as a starter: At the end of the 2015 season, before even qualifying as a rookie, he hit nine home runs in 111 at-bats. He then proceeded to break a CPBL playoff record with 14 hits in a seven-game series, helping lead the Monkeys to the Taiwan Series and taking home the award for the most outstanding player of the playoffs.

This all happened in his first two months as a professional baseball player.

It’s time for the baseball world to meet Wang Po Jung, and what better way to introduce him than to let the native of Pingtung, Taiwan, tell you who he models his game after. “Bryce Harper,” he said confidently through a translator before a game in June. “We’re both outfielders and left-handed hitters. Mike Trout, too, though he’s right-handed.”     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan soundly beat N Mariana

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 01, 2016
By: Jason Pan / Staff reporter

Taiwan yesterday ran rampant over the Northern Mariana Islands, scoring four goals in each half on the way to an 8-1 thrashing in Guam, picking up their first win in an international competition in more than a year.

Players and coaches congratulated each other at the final whistle for the superlative performance, with accolades going to midfielder Lin Chieh-hsun, who scored four goals, and striker Wu Chun-ching, who grabbed a brace, in the first-round qualifier for next year’s East Asia Football Federation Championship.

Although the team and Taiwanese fans were overjoyed at the lopsided victory, there was a big gap between the two sides, with Taiwan 191st in the FIFA rankings and the Northern Mariana Islands 233rd in the World Football Elo rankings and picked from a population of about 52,000.

It was the first international win for Taiwan since they defeated Brunei 2-0 in an Asian region FIFA World Cup qualifier in March last year and their largest margin of victory since a 10-0 rout of Guam in an EAFF qualifier in 2007.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s Hsieh exits rainy Wimbledon

FEDERER DOWNS ‘CARTMAN’:The Swiss star with career earnings of nearly US$100m defeated Briton Marcus Willis, who had earned just US$200 this year before this match

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 01, 2016
By: Dave Carroll / Staff reporter, with AFP, LONDON

Taiwanese No. 1 Hsieh Su-wei lost her rain-affected first-round women’s singles match at p16-160701-a1Wimbledon on Wednesday, while Marcus Willis’ brief flirtation with fame was ended by Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic racked up an Open era record of 30 successive Grand Slam wins.

World No. 69 Hsieh, who has been complaining of fatigue after entering every possible tournament in the past two months in an effort to improve her ranking and earn a spot at next month’s Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, started the day on Court 5 at one-set all with 21st seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova after their first-round match was suspended due to rain on Tuesday evening.

However, the Russian broke the Taiwanese early and claimed a 3-1 lead before rain once again forced the players back into the changing rooms at the All England Lawn Tennis Club.     [FULL  STORY]

Jeremy Lin to sign deal with Nets

The China Post
Date: July 2, 2016
By: The China Post news staff

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Jeremy Lin will sign with the Brooklyn Nets, American sports channel,

A photograb of Jeremy Lin's Twitter post on Friday, July 1, shows the NBA player sharing the news of his deal with the Brooklyn Nets. (Captured from the internet)

A photograb of Jeremy Lin’s Twitter post on Friday, July 1, shows the NBA player sharing the news of his deal with the Brooklyn Nets.
(Captured from the internet)

ESPN reported on Friday, July 1.

Lin has agreed to a three-year, US$36 million deal with the Nets, the ESPN quoted sources as saying.

Lin also shared the news via a tweet on Friday morning in which he said “The journey continues … thankful for the next chapter!! #Godisgood.”

Lin, the first NBA player of Taiwanese descent, gained international stardom after leading the New York Knicks to a surprise seven-game winning streak in 2012.     [FULL  STORY]

Chans Taiwan’s sole survivors

MURRAY OUSTS LU:The Taiwanese broke in the first game, gaining a 3-1 lead, but the Scot quickly regained the upper hand to surge to the win in commanding style

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 02, 2016
By: Dave Carroll / Staff reporter, with AFP and AP, LONDON

The Chan sisters survived a Taiwanese rout in the first round of the women’s doubles at

Taiwan’s Lu Yen-hsun returns to Andy Murray during their second-round match at the All England Lawn Tennis Club in Wimbledon, London, on Thursday. Photo: AFP

Taiwan’s Lu Yen-hsun returns to Andy Murray during their second-round match at the All England Lawn Tennis Club in Wimbledon, London, on Thursday. Photo: AFP

Wimbledon on Thursday, while Lu Yen-hsun was beaten in the second round of the men’s singles by world No. 2 Andy Murray.

Third seeds Chan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan were the only successful Taiwanese to take to the grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis Club in London on Thursday, advancing to the second round with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Ashleigh Barty of Australia and Laura Robson of Britain.

The sisters saved five of seven break points and converted five of eight, winning 67 of the 116 points contested, despite serving up six double faults.

“Wasn’t an easy first round, but was a good match to start the Wimbledon Championship, see you all at 2nd round,” elder sister Chan Yung-jan wrote on Facebook.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan soundly beat N Mariana

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 01, 2016
By: Jason Pan / Staff reporter

Taiwan yesterday ran rampant over the Northern Mariana Islands, scoring four goals in each half on the way to an 8-1 thrashing in Guam, picking up their first win in an international competition in more than a year.

Players and coaches congratulated each other at the final whistle for the superlative performance, with accolades going to midfielder Lin Chieh-hsun, who scored four goals, and striker Wu Chun-ching, who grabbed a brace, in the first-round qualifier for next year’s East Asia Football Federation Championship.

Although the team and Taiwanese fans were overjoyed at the lopsided victory, there was a big gap between the two sides, with Taiwan 191st in the FIFA rankings and the Northern Mariana Islands 233rd in the World Football Elo rankings and picked from a population of about 52,000.

It was the first international win for Taiwan since they defeated Brunei 2-0 in an Asian region FIFA World Cup qualifier in March last year and their largest margin of victory since a 10-0 rout of Guam in an EAFF qualifier in 2007.     [FULL  STORY]