Sports

Chien-Ming Wang picks up his fifth win of the year

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/06/30
By: Romulo Huang

Taipei, June 30 (CNA) Taiwanese pitcher Chien-Ming Wang (王建民), who now plays as a

CNA file photo

CNA file photo

Kansas City Royals relief pitcher, picked up his fifth win of the year on Wednesday against the Cardinals.

The 36-year-old reliever was called up in the bottom of the extra 11th inning when the Royals and Cardinals were tied at 2-2.

Wang pitched a total of 23 balls in the last two scoreless innings and dismissed six batters in a row with one strikeout, four flyouts and one groundout, securing the victory for the Royals who scored the winning run in the top of the 12th inning.

Wang, who joined the Royals earlier this year, has so far appeared in 24 games, pitched a total of 32 innings with a 3.66 ERA (earned run average), and clinched five wins without a loss.     [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

Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei returns to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova during their first-round Wimbledon match at the All England Lawn Tennis Club in London on Wednesday. Photo: CNA

Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei returns to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova during their first-round Wimbledon match at the All England Lawn Tennis Club in London on Wednesday. Photo: CNA

Wimbledon 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]

Lu Yen-hsun advances to second round of Wimbledon men’s singles

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/06/28
By: Jennifer Huang and Romulo Huang

London, June 28 (CNA) Taiwan’s top-ranked male tennis player, Lu Yen-hsun (盧彥勳), moved 201606280036t0001forward into the second round of the men’s singles at Wimbledon on Tuesday with a 6-4, 6-1, 6-4 win over Alexander Kudryavtsev of Russia.

Lu, who is currently No. 76 in the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) rankings, will take on the winner of the all-British match between Andy Murray and Liam Broady in the second round of the third Grand Slam tennis tournament of the year.

This is Lu’s 13th consecutive appearance at Wimbledon since 2004, when the Taiwanese tennis veteran competed for the first time in the championship.

Since returning to the tour last month after recovering from elbow surgery, Lu has won two ATP Challenger Tour titles — the Aegon Ilkley Open Trophy 2016 and the Surbiton Challenger — both on grass and both in the United Kingdom, on June 12 and June 19, respectively.     [FULL  STORY]

Lu into second round at Wimbledon

‘GREAT, GREAT STORY’:Roger Federer said that he is very, very excited to be playing against British qualifier Marcus Willis, who is ranked 772nd in the world

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 29, 2016
By: Dave Carroll / Staff reporter, with Reuters, LONDON

Taiwanese No. 1 Lu Yen-hsun safely negotiated the first round at Wimbledon yesterday on his return to the main tour following elbow surgery.

The Taipei-born 32-year-old advanced with a 6-4, 6-1, 6-4 victory over Russian world No. 179 Alexander Kudryavtsev on Court 10 at the All England Lawn Tennis Club in London.

The Taiwanese world No. 76, who reached the quarter-finals of the third Grand Slam of the year in 2010, saved three of four break points and converted five of eight, firing nine aces and winning 99 of the 167 points contested to advance to a likely second-round clash with world No. 2 Andy Murray, who was due to face fellow Briton Liam Broady on Center Court later yesterday.

Lu, who was elected to the Association of Tennis Professionals Player Council at the weekend, has been plying his trade in second-tier Challenger tournaments since recovery from surgery, becoming the first player to make it to three consecutive finals earlier this month in the Manchester, Surbiton and Ilkley tournaments in England.

Lu, the runner-up in Manchester, went on to win the titles in Surbiton on June 13 and Ilkley on Sunday last week.      [FULL  STORY]

Lu elected to council, vows to promote tennis in Asia

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 28, 2016
By: Staff writer, with CNA

Taiwan’s top-ranked male tennis player, Lu Yen-hsun, has expressed his gratitude for becoming the first Taiwanese to be elected to the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Player Council and pledged to promote tennis in Asia.

The new council, as voted by players, was announced on Saturday evening at the general players meeting at Wimbledon.

The council, elected for a two-year term, also includes Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, the world’s top two ranked singles players.

After being elected to the council, Lu is to join other ATP Player Board representatives in making recommendations to ATP Management and the ATP Board of Directors.     [FULL  STORY]

Kobe makes Taipei appearance

The China Post
Date: June 28, 2016
By: The China Post news staff

Retired NBA star Kobe Bryant, in white shirt, shows off his moves for high school basketball players during training camp Kobe Academy in Taipei on Monday, June 27. Bryant visited Taipei and Kaohsiung during his trip to Taiwan. (CNA)

Retired NBA star Kobe Bryant, in white shirt, shows off his moves for high school basketball players during training camp Kobe Academy in Taipei on Monday, June 27. Bryant visited Taipei and Kaohsiung during his trip to Taiwan. (CNA)

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Retired NBA star Kobe Bryant, in white shirt, shows off his moves for high school basketball players during training camp Kobe Academy in Taipei on Monday, June 27. Bryant visited Taipei and Kaohsiung during his trip to Taiwan.     [SOURCE]

Brothers defeat Lions in season first-half finale

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

Led by veterans coming through with key hits, the Brothers Baseball Club yesterday wrapped

The Brothers Baseball Club’s Peng Cheng-min hits a home run in their CPBL game against the Uni-President Lions at Chengcing Lake Baseball Stadium in Kaohsiung yesterday. Photo: Huang Chih-yuan, Taipei Times

The Brothers Baseball Club’s Peng Cheng-min hits a home run in their CPBL game against the Uni-President Lions at Chengcing Lake Baseball Stadium in Kaohsiung yesterday. Photo: Huang Chih-yuan, Taipei Times

up the first half of the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) season in winning fashion, scoring one late run to edge the Uni-President Lions 5-4 at Cheng Ching Lake Baseball Stadium in Kaohsiung.

Designated hitter Peng Cheng-min clobbered a two-run homer, his second round-tripper in as many games, to give the Brothers an early 2-0 lead.
The Lions then got their offense going, with both sides trading runs to level at 4-4 in the fifth inning.

The game remained tied until the eighth frame, when veteran shortstop Chen Chiang-ho hit an RBI-single to knock in the winning run, with the Brothers securing the 5-4 score line.

US right-hander Nathan Long pitched five innings to start the game for the Brothers, while set-up man Kuan Ta-yuan pitched the final inning to pocket his first win of the season.     [FULL  STORY]

Retired NBA star Kobe Bryant arrives in Taiwan

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/06/26
By: Chang Che-fon and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, June 26 (CNA) Retired NBA star Kobe Bryant arrived in Taiwan Sunday for a two-day 201606260021t0001whirlwind visit that first took him to Kaohsiung that day before traveling to Taipei on Monday.

Bryant, who played for the Los Angeles Lakers before retiring April 13 this year, touched down in Kaohsiung at around 7:00 p.m. after his flight was delayed.

He was originally scheduled to arrive in the southern port city at 3:30 p.m.

Shortly after he arrived in Kaohsiung, the 37-year-old former All-Star shooting guard opened a “Mamba Mentality” retrospective exhibition at the Kaohsiung Exhibition Center that will run until July 2.     [FULL  STORY]

Chan sisters falter in Eastbourne final

WARM-UP:Slovakia’s Dominika Dibulkova said that the Aegon International, her first grass-court victory, is the toughest, as it serves as preparation for Wimbledon

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 27, 2016
By: Dave Carroll / Staff reporter, with Reuters, EASTBOURNE, England

Taiwan’s Chan sisters were on Saturday edged out in a tight doubles final at the Aegon International in Eastbourne, England, in a blow before they begin their Wimbledon campaign this week.

Chan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan fell to a 5-7, 7-6 (7/4), 10-6 defeat to Darija Jurak and Anastasia Rodionova in just short of two hours on the grass courts at Devonshire Park.

The second seeds saved two of seven break points and converted six of 12, winning 85 of the 169 points contested, but it was not enough as the Croatian-Australian duo claimed the title, which the Taiwanese duo were trying to reclaim after their victory back in 2014.

“Unfortunately, we did not win the final at Eastbourne, but we still had a great week here. All the matches we played will help get us ready for Wimbledon — next stop London,” Chan Yung-jan wrote on Facebook.     [FULL  STORY]

Fans await arrival of former NBA All-Star Kobe Bryant

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 24, 2016
By: Jason Pan / Staff reporter

Retired NBA star Kobe Bryant is to arrive in Taiwan this weekend for a two-day whirlwind visit to meet his legions of Taiwanese fans, with his first stop in Kaohsiung on Sunday before traveling to Taipei on Monday.

Sports enthusiasts in southern regions were said to be thrilled to learn that Bryant’s visit is focused on Kaohsiung, with two scheduled official events there, as part of his “Mamba Mentality Tour” in Asia.

The long-time Los Angeles Lakers frontman is to stay only briefly in Taipei, where he is to conduct a basketball training camp at the Nangang Municipal Sports Center on Monday morning, which is not open to the public, according to Nike Taiwan, the official sponsor of Bryant’s tour.

The NBA All-Star, known as “the Black Mamba,” came to Taiwan in August last year, as part of a tour of Asia that also saw him travel to China’s Guangzhou and Shanghai.     [FULL  STORY]