Taipei Times
Date: Mar 06, 2016
By: Paul Huang / Contributing reporter

The Dacin Tigers yesterday held off a late-game rally by Bank of Taiwan to escape with a

90-80 win at the Banciao Gymnasium in New Taipei City.

The victory not only extended the third-ranked Cats’ winning streak to three, but it also cut their deficit behind second-ranked Taiwan Beer to 1.5 games as they head down the final stretch of the regular season with four and three games remaining on their respective schedules.

Heading into the contest with a pair of solid wins under their belt, the Tigers came out firing in the opening quarter with Chou Yi-hsiang netting 11 and Lu Chi-er chipping in 10 to double up on the Bankers at 28-14.

The Tigers added another two to their lead in a more competitive second quarter that saw Chu Yi-tsung nailing a pair of three-pointers to close out the first half with a commanding 48-32 advantage.

Dacin increased their margin to 22 points with a 16-4 run early in the third, with Chou and Chang Chih-fong spearheading the offense, only to see the resilient Bankers answer with a sizable run of their own, with Luke Nevill and Chang Po-wei combining for 13 points to keep the deficit at an even dozen by the end of the quarter.

The two teams traded mini runs in the fourth quarter, where the Financial Wizards kept the deficit below 10 for the most part. That set up a 5-0 run in favor of the upset-minded Bankers, who cut the Dacin lead to five with two minutes remaining in the game.  [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 05, 2016
By: AFP, SINGAPORE

Top-ranked Lydia Ko yesterday carded an ugly 74 as she slipped nine shots

off the pace set by South Koreans Jang Ha-na and Mirim Lee at the HSBC Women’s Champions in Singapore.

The 18-year-old, seeking her first win at the tournament, has much ground to make up at the par-72 Sentosa course after an unsatisfying first two rounds.

Defending champion Inbee Park was also five shots back from Jang and Lee, who fired 66 and 67 respectively for matching aggregate scores of 136.

Park, who did not card a single bogey as she romped to the title last year, struggled to a 73 on another windy day at the resort island course.

Jang shot to the top of the leaderboard after shooting four birdies and an eagle on the par-five seventh, before Lee joined her at the top.     [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 05, 2016
By: Dave Carroll / Staff reporter

Taiwan and Malaysia were deadlocked at 1-1 after the first day of their Davis

Cup Asia/Oceania Group II tie in Kaohsiung yesterday.

Malaysia drew first blood on the hard courts at the Yang-Ming Tennis Center when Mohd Merzuki won a marathon seesaw first singles rubber over Taiwan’s Hung Jui-chen 6-2, 6-7 (6/8), 0-6, 6-1, 6-4 in 2 hours, 52 minutes.

Merzuki saved five of 13 break points and converted 10 of 17, winning 133 of the 256 points contested to give Malaysia a 1-0 lead.

However, Taiwan’s Huang Liang-chi cruised to a 6-0, 6-0, 6-2 victory over Syed Syed Naguib in just 55 minutes in the second singles rubber to tie the score at 1-1.     [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 04, 2016
By: AFP, SINGAPORE

Australian teenager Minjee Lee and Kaohsiung-born Candie Kung both shot five-

under 67 to share the HSBC Women’s Champions lead at the top of a tight first-round leaderboard yesterday.

Defending champion Inbee Park was among four players one stroke back and world No. 1 Lydia Ko was four off the pace in tied 27th after a hot, windswept day at the par-72 Serapong Course on Sentosa Island.

Kung shot to the top of the leaderboard with five bogeys and an eagle on the 12th. Two bogeys on the 13th and 15th failed to dislodge the world No. 41 from the tournament lead.

Later Lee, 19, who is seeking her second career victory, joined Kung, 34, at the top, with four birdies and an eagle.

“The wind was a little calm back then [on the 10th hole],” said Kung, who started on the back nine. “I was able to get up there in two and made my putt from about six feet.”     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/03/03
By: Lee Chin-wei and Romulo Huang

Taipei, March 3 (CNA) The women’s team of Taiwan came from behind to defeat

Ukraine 3-2 in the second round of the 2016 World Team Table Tennis Championships being held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Thursday and advanced to the quarterfinals of the tournament.

Taiwan’s Chen Szu-yu (陳思羽) conceded the first match of the three out of five team competitions to her Ukrainian rival Tetyana Bilenko 3-0.

Cheng I-ching (鄭怡靜) mounted later a recovery by beating Margaryta Pesotska 3-1. She leveled matters again by overcoming Bilenko 3-0 before Lin Chia-hui (林嘉慧) lost her match against Ganna Gaponova 3-0.

Chen Szu-yu won the decisive fifth match over Pesotska 3-1.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/03/02
By: Romulo Huang

Taipei, March 2 (CNA) The women’s team of Taiwan advanced to the second round of the 2016 World Team Table Tennis Championships being held in Malaysia after securing the second place in Group A Wednesday. China beat Taiwan to snatch the top spot in Group A.

A total of 24 countries are participating in the competitions for the highest-level division of the championships. They are divided into four groups, each having six countries. The first round of the competitions are conducted on a round-robin basis in each group.

Taiwan, along with China, Romania, Hungary, Spain and Malaysia were in Group A. The top three teams, including Romania, clinched a ticket for the next round of competitions.     [FULL  STORY]