Taipei Times
Date: Apr 04, 2016
By: Paul Huang / Contributing reporter

Top-seeded Pure Youth Construction avenged Saturday night’s tough loss to the Fubon

Braves by erupting for 55 points in the second half to pull away with a 92-72 win in Game 2 of the SBL semi-finals at the Sinjhuang Sports Complex in New Taipei City last night to even the best-of-seven series at one win apiece.

Tsai Wen-cheng held nothing back in the must-win game for the four-time defending champions, who squandered a double-digit lead in the first half on Saturday to drop the opener by eight with 26 points on the night to pace the Builders to victory.

“The biggest difference between the two games was our defense, especially in the second half,” Tsai said after the game.

Pure Youth held a red-hot Fubon offense, winners of four straight games heading into the contest, to 37 points in the second half to hand the Braves their first loss in the post-season.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Today
Date: April 1, 2016

Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic tees off April 18 in Daly City, California, giving rising Taiwan

talents the opportunity to strut their stuff on the international golfing stage.

Co-organized by Taipei City-headquartered Swinging Skirts Foundation, the classic enters its third year with a field of more than 150 top women golfers battling it out for US$2 million in prize money.

The foundation was established in 2010 by a small group of male and female golfers eager to grow the game in Taiwan and capitalize on local phenom Yani Tseng climb up the rankings. They decided to honor the Scottish roots of the sport by donning kilts and accordingly settled on the catchy name Swinging Skirts.

SSF Chairman Johnson Wang said the initiative stems from his dedication to promoting the sport in Taiwan and helping young players put their skills to the test. “We will sponsor six local juniors to compete this year, as we believe female golf is one of the sports where Taiwan stands a chance to become a frontrunner in the global arena.”

According to Wang, the 2014 edition was the first LPGA competition hosted by a foreign group on U.S. soil and described by LPGA Commissioner Michael Whan as “a perfect example of borderless golf.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/03/31
By: Christie Chen

Taipei, March 31 (CNA) Wu Ching-kuo (吳經國), Taiwan’s only International Olympic

Committee (IOC) member, was named the new chairman of the IOC Culture and Olympic Heritage Commission on Wednesday, his Taipei office said Thursday.

Wu has succeeded Lambis Nikolaou to become head of the commission, which is responsible for promoting the Olympic culture through various forums, sports, and cultural and arts activities, according to the office.

The commission, which has close to 30 members, also promotes the Olympic culture through the International Olympic Academy and through cooperating with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, according to the office.

Even though there is still a lot of room for Taiwan to improve in the Olympic Games, Taiwan has a good chance to raise its visibility in the international community by participating in Olympic cultural activities, Wu said in a statement.     [FULL  STORY]

Home team wins Women’s Challenge Cup of Asia

International Ice Hockey Federation
Date: 26.03.2016

TAIPEI CITY – Host and defending champion Chinese Taipei won the 2016 IIHF Ice Hockey

Women’s Challenge Cup of Asia Division I on home ice at the Taipei Arena Ice Land in Taipei City.

For the ladies from the island of Taiwan no hurdle was too big in the five-team round-robin event as the result in the final game between the two undefeated teams showed. Chinese Taipei beat Thailand 8-1 in front of 793 spectators in what became the tightest result for the home team.

Previously Chinese Taipei had already beaten Malaysia, India and Singapore, as did Thailand in its first three games.

Hui-Chen Yeh was the dominating player for her team as she led all players in scoring with 14 goals and 8 assists for 22 points earning her the Best Forward award. She and her linemate Ting-Yu Hsu each scored a hat trick in the final 8-1 win over Thailand.      [FULL  STORY]

‘A WHOLE NEW WORLD’:The Hsinchu-born tennis star said the first-round victory was a great start and she will continue to work hard with Chinese partner Peng Shuai

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 26, 2016
By: Dave Carroll / Staff reporter, with AFP, MIAMI

Two-time Grand Slam champions Hsieh Su-wei and Peng Shuai won their first doubles

match of the year on Thursday to advance to the second round of the Miami Open, while top seed Serena Williams launched her bid for a ninth singles title in Key Biscayne.

Hsieh and Peng defeated Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany and Coco Vandeweghe of the US 6-4, 6-2 in 68 minutes in the first round of the doubles at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park.

The Taiwanese-Chinese duo saved six of seven break points and converted four of seven, taking advantage of their opponents’ eight doubles faults to win 58 of the 104 points contested.

“I started in the second half of last year and only participated in five doubles [tournaments]. Peng Shuai went through back surgery twice to get back on track,” Hsieh wrote on Facebook. “Doubles for me now is a whole new world, I’m getting back the feeling of the game step by step. Victory today gives us a great start. We will continue to work hard.”     [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 25, 2016
By: AP, CHARLOTTE, North Carolina

Perhaps this is the start of Linsanity II.

Taiwanese-American Hornets guard Jeremy Lin is heating up and surging

Charlotte is blazing a trail to their second playoff appearance in three seasons under coach Steve Clifford.

Lin scored 15 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter on Monday to lead the Hornets back from a 23-point deficit to beat San Antonio — the largest lead surrendered by the Spurs in the Tim Duncan era. Lin followed that with another strong performance on Tuesday night, scoring 21 points in a win over Brooklyn.

Michael Jordan’s Hornets (41-30) now find themselves in a three-way tie with Boston and Atlanta for the fourth best record in the Eastern Conference, just a half-game behind third place Miami.

Lin is a major reason why.     [FULL  STORY]

POINTLESS:Taiwan suffered their sixth straight defeat. In other games, Australia routed Tajikistan 7-0, Japan hammered Afghanistan 5-0 and South Korea beat Lebanon 1-0

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 25, 2016
By: Dave Carroll / Staff reporter, with AFP

Taiwan fell to a 4-1 defeat against Vietnam in their final FIFA 2018 World

Cup Asian Group F qualifier at the My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi last night.

The visitors opened the scoring in the seventh minute through Wu Chun-ching, but the hosts equalized straight from the kickoff through Le Cong Vinh.

Nguyen Van Toan then increased Vietnam’s lead in the 29th minute, before grabbing his second in the 42nd as the hosts went in to the break with a 3-1 lead.
Cong Vinh added his second in the 91st minute to complete the rout.

Taiwan finished pointless at the bottom of Group F after six straight defeats, while Vietnam were in third place on seven points. Group leaders Thailand were due to face Iraq in Tehran later last night.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/03/23
By: Lin Hung-han and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, March 23 (CNA) Taiwan was ranked fifth in the world in the first-ever women’s softball rankings issued by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) on Wednesday, one spot ahead of China.

Japan ranked No. 1 in the world in the rankings, followed by the United States, Australia and Canada, according to a statement issued by the Lausanne, Switzerland-based WBSC.

Asia, the Americas, Europe and Oceania are all represented in the women’s Top 10, highlighting the universal footprint of the sport, the WSBC said.

The group also issued a men’s softball rankings with New Zealand at the top, followed by Canada, Australia, Venezuela, Japan, Argentina and the U.S.     [FULL  STORY]