Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/03/01
By: Romulo Huang

Taipei, March 1 (CNA) Taiwanese player Chang Kai-chen (張凱貞) came from

behind to defeat the top seed Roberta Vinci of Italy in the first round of the WTA Kuala Lumpur 2016 Tuesday 5-7, 6-2, 6-1.

Chang, who is currently 153rd in the world rankings, took an early 4-2 lead over Vinci in the first set before conceding the set to the world No. 10. She then rallied to win the next two sets by a comfortable margin.

Chang will take on Cagla Buyukakcay of Turkey in the second round of the tournament, which carries total prize money of US$250,000 and will run through March 6.

A day earlier, another Taiwanese player, Hsieh Su-wei (謝淑薇), the seventh seed in the tournament, got past Jana Cepelova of Slovakia in the first round of the tournament 6-4, 6-4. Hsieh will face another Slovakian player, Christina Kucova, in a second-round match to be held Wednesday.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/02/29
By: Lee Yu-cheng and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, Feb. 29 (CNA) Taiwan’s Chan Yung-jan (詹詠然) and Chan Hao-ching

(詹皓晴) have pushed their world rankings in doubles up to fifth and sixth, respectively, after winning their second Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) title of the year at the Qatar Total Open in Doha Saturday.

The sisters have reached a career high in world doubles rankings, thanks to their perfect cohesion, according to the WTA rankings as of Monday.

Just two weeks ago at the Taiwan Open, the Chans triumphed in the home tournament, donating their prize money to a relief fund for victims of the magnitude 6.4 earthquake that hit the southern Taiwan city of Tainan Feb. 6, leaving 157 people dead.

They played a near-perfect final against Sara Errani and Carla Suárez Navarro in the doubles finals in Doha, hitting 21 winners to only 10 errors — a far cleaner match than their opponents, who hit 19 winners and 22 unforced errors.

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/02/28
By: Lee Yu-cheng and Kay Liu

Taipei, Feb. 28 (CNA) The Chan sisters from Taiwan won the doubles title at

the US$2.52 million Qatar Total Open on Sunday, a title that will make them the second highest ranked duo in the world.

Chan Yung-jan (詹詠然) and her younger sister Chan Hao-ching (詹皓晴), who were seeded fourth in Doha, beat unseeded Sara Errani of Italy and Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain 6-3, 6-3 in Sunday’s finals.

“Today’s match wasn’t easy, despite the score,” the elder Chan said after the match. “They’re for sure very tough opponents who’ve been playing really well. I was sick and having a fever, coughing, but we’re happy to make it until the last match!”

She also thanked local fans who brought her chicken essence, ginger soup and pears poached in sugar syrup to help boost her energy.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/02/28
By: Lee Chin-wei and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, Feb. 28 (CNA) Taiwanese golfer Cheng Ssu-chia (程思嘉), a Ladies

European Tour (LET) regular, finished tied at the fifth place in the 2016 RACV Ladies Masters in Australia’s Gold Coast Sunday with a four-day total of eight-under 284.

Cheng scored a four-under 69 in the final round with four birdies and one bogey.

After seeing her swings affected by strong winds in the second and third rounds of the LET tournament, Cheng said she played the Sunday game without having too many thoughts in the mind.

She just played like she was enjoying the game, she said.     [FULL  STORY]

‘MALE MODEL’:In the second game, Lu Cheng-ju top-scored with 26 points as the Yulon Luxgens downed Taiwan Beer to claim their second consecutive victory

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 29, 2016
By: Paul Huang / Contributing reporter

Top-ranked Pure Youth Construction avoided what would have been an

embarrassing defeat against Bank of Taiwan by outscoring the red-hot Bankers 9-3 in the final three minutes to escape with a 65-62 win at the Banciao Gymnasium in New Taipei City last night.

Tsai Wen-cheng saved his best for last by netting his team’s final five points to bail the four-time defending champions out of a big jam that saw them squander a 20-point advantage at halftime.

They trailed the Bankers by as many as three points with less than three minutes to play, before pulling off a valiant 9-3 run to claim the victory.

“The shot became open just as coach Ben drew it up on the board, so I took it as soon as I could, and the rest is history,” Tsai said of his game-turning three-pointer — a beautiful basket off the backboard after the Builders captain received a perfect feed from Darian Townes.     [FULL  STORY]

TOUGH FIGHT:The Taiwanese duo fought back from a set down against Russians Daria Kasatkina and Elena Vesnina to claim the victory in their semi-final on Friday

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 28, 2016
By: Dave Carroll / Staff reporter, with AP, DOHA

Taiwan’s Chan sisters edged a thrilling Qatar Open doubles semi-final on Friday, while Spain’s

Carla Suarez Navarro was set to play in both the singles and doubles finals yesterday.

Fourth seeds Chan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan fought back from a set down to edge Russian duo Daria Kasatkina and Elena Vesnina — who had ended the 41-match winning streak of top seeds Martina Hingis of Switzerland and Sania Mirza of India in the quarter-finals — 3-6, 7-6 (7/5), 10-8 in 1 hour, 54 minutes.

The Taiwanese sisters saved five of nine break points and converted two of 10, winning 80 of the 156 points contested to advance to the final in the super tiebreak at the International Tennis and Squash Complex in Doha.

The Chan sisters were going for their second WTA Tour title of the season in the final, which was due to be played in the early hours of this morning, after they claimed the inaugural Taiwan Open title in Kaohsiung on Feb. 14.

“Today was a really tough fight, especially after losing the first set, it was difficult, but fortunately we did not give up from start to finish. Kept playing until the last minute to claim this crucial victory. Will come back tomorrow with the same mentality,” Chan Hao-ching wrote on Facebook.    [FULL  STORY]

WINNING STREAK ENDS:In the other quarter-final, Russians Daria Kasatkina and Elena Vesnina ended the 41-match winning streak of top seeds Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 27, 2016
By: Dave Carroll / Staff reporter, with AFP, DOHA

Taiwan’s Chan sisters advanced to the semi-finals of doubles at the Qatar

Open on Thursday, while Russian duo Daria Kasatkina and Elena Vesnina pulled off the shock of the tournament.

Fourth seeds Chan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan defeated sixth seeds Timea Babos of Hungary and Julia Goerges of Germany 6-1, 7-6 (8/6) in the quarter-finals at the International Tennis and Squash Complex in Doha in 1 hour, 22 minutes.
The Taiwanese sisters saved four of seven break points and converted five of 12, winning 71 of the 127 points contested.

“Onto the semis tonight. Was so windy today, not easy to play a doubles match in such conditions, happy that we made it,” elder sister Chan Yung-jan, who has been suffering flu-like symptoms this week, wrote on Facebook.     [FULL  STORY]