Sports

Taiwan’s Huang chokes out Badr

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 31, 2016
By: Adrian Hardie / Staff reporter

Taiwan’s first female mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter, Jenny Huang,

Taiwan’s Jenny Huang, bottom, sinks a triangle choke on the way to submitting Egypt’s Amira Badr in the second round of their ONE Championship catchweight fight in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Friday. Photo: Courtesy of ONE Championship

Taiwan’s Jenny Huang, bottom, sinks a triangle choke on the way to submitting Egypt’s Amira Badr in the second round of their ONE Championship catchweight fight in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Friday. Photo: Courtesy of ONE Championship

clinched her third victory in as many pro fights with a second-round submission of Egypt’s Amira Badr at ONE Championship: Clash of Heroes in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Friday night.

The main event saw Malaysian-New Zealander Ev Ting fight the fight of his career as he dominated Philippine standout Eric “the Natural” Kelly on his way to a third-round submission win to put himself in title contention.

In Badr, Huang was facing a three-time Egyptian national wrestling champion who was making her pro MMA debut, in a bout fought at a catchweight of 49kg.
ONE weight classes have been shaken up as a result of a new weigh-in policy that aims to protect fighters by preventing severe weight-cutting, after a ONE fighter died last month while trying to cut weight.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan secures 4 slots in the 2016 Summer Olympics shooting events

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/01/28
By: Bear Lee

Taipei, Jan. 28 (CNA) Taiwanese shooter Yang kun-pi (楊昆粥) won a

Yang kun-pi (楊昆粥) Photo courtesy of Yang Kun-pi

Yang kun-pi (楊昆粥) Photo courtesy of Yang Kun-pi

silver medal on Thursday in men’s double trap event of the 2016 Asian Olympic Shooting Qualifying Tournament being held in New Delhi, India, securing one more slot for Taiwan in the Rio Olympics, according to the Chinese Taipei Shooting Association.

With Yang’s outstanding performance, Taiwan has now garnered its fourth slot in the shooting events of the 2016 Summer Olympics.

A total of 538 shooters representing 30 countries are vying for 35 quota places for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in the India tournament being held from January 27 to February 3.

Lin Yi-chun (林怡君）earned Taiwan’s first place for the Rio Olympics in the ISSF (International Shooting Sport Federation) World Cup Rifle, Pistol and Shotgun Championship held Aug. 6-16, 2015 in Gabala, Azerbaijan.     [FULL  STORY]

Lu Cheng-ju named Player of the Week yet again

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 28, 2016
By: Paul Huang / Contributing reporter

In near-unanimous fashion, Lu “Male Model” Cheng-ju was named last week’s Player of the Week after another outstanding weekend of play in leading his club to a pair of wins before the Lunar New Year holiday.

The Yulon Luxgen small forward easily won the nods from members of the Basketball Writers’ Association for his uncanny display of grace and poise, averaging 26 points, five rebounds and 2.5 steals per game in the Luxgens’ two wins over worthy opponents.

“I’d like to thank my coaches and teammates for drawing up the plays and setting the screens for me; the rest kind of takes care of itself,” Lu said upon learning his selection for the third time in eight weeks.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwanese advances in junior girls’ doubles at Australian Open

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/01/27
By: Lee Yu-cheng and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, Jan. 22 (CNA) Taiwanese teenager Cho I-hsuan (卓宜萱) and

Cho I-hsuan (卓宜萱, right), Ayumi Miyamoto (Photo courtesy of OEC Sports)

Cho I-hsuan (卓宜萱, right), Ayumi Miyamoto (Photo courtesy of OEC Sports)

her partner Ayumi Miyamoto of Japan won their quarterfinal game in the junior girls’ doubles at the Australian Open Wednesday to advance to the semifinals.

Unseeded Cho and Miyamoto defeated the eighth seed pair Mayaka Aikawa and Chihiro Muramatsu of Japan 6-1, 6-4.

It is the first time that the 15-year-old Cho is competing in the Australian Open.

Cho said she had not set any goals for the tournament but believed it was important to bring her skills into full play.

She said she was happy to advance to semis and she praised her Japanese partner as having played brilliantly.     [FULL  STORY]

Chan Yung-jan loses in the quarter-finals for mixed doubles

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 28, 2016
By: Dave Carroll / Staff reporter

Taiwan’s Chan Yung-jan exited the Australian Open in the quarter-finals of the mixed doubles yesterday, her second quarter-final defeat in two days at Melbourne Park.

Third seeds Chan and Rohan Bopanna of India fell to a 6-2, 7-5 defeat to Andreja Klepac of Slovenia and Treat Huey of the Philippines in 55 minutes on Show Court 2.

Chan and Bopanna converted just one of five break points, while their opponents converted four of six, winning 59 of the 112 points contested.

The Taiwanese-Indian duo hit more winners than their opponents, 25 to 19, but unseeded Klepac and Huey committed only half the unforced errors of their third-seeded opponents, nine to 18.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwanese rider wins 25-km points race in Asian Cycling Championships

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/01/26
By: Chen Yi-wei and S.C. Chang

Taipei, Jan. 26 (CNA) Huang Ting-ying (黃亭茵) of Taiwan won a gold medal in

Huang (C) successfully defends her title at 2016 Asian Cycling Championships in Japan. Photo courtesy of Sonoko Tanaka/ ACC 2016

Huang (Center) successfully defends her title at 2016 Asian Cycling Championships in Japan. Photo courtesy of Sonoko Tanaka/ ACC 2016

the 25-kilometer women’s elite points race of the 2016 Asian Cycling Championships held in Izu, Japan Tuesday, defending the title she first earned last year.

On Jan. 23, Huang placed 5th in the 107.1-km women’s elite road race of the championship that started Jan. 19.

In a Facebook post, Huang said she was nervous at the beginning of Tuesday’s race as she felt the pressure to defend her championship.

“All I could do was to remain calm and face the test, so I told myself to get rid of the fear and look well into my inner self,” she wrote.     [FULL  STORY]

Top table tennis player grabs two gold medals in Hungary

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/01/25
By: C.W. Lee and Flor Wang

Taipei, Jan. 25 (CNA) Taiwan’s top table tennis player Chuang Chih-yuan (莊智淵) grabbed the gold medal Sunday in the men’s single at the 2016 ITTF World Tour Hungary Open.

Chuang, placed 7th in the world in the latest International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) ranking and top seeded in the competition, secured the title by comfortably beating another Taiwanese player Chen Chien-an (陳建安) 11-6, 11-8, 11-4, 11-3     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s Chan sisters through to quarterfinals of Australian Open

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/01/24
By: Lee Yu-cheng and Kay Liu

Taipei, Jan. 24 (CNA) Taiwanese tennis players Chan Yung-jan (詹詠然) and

Chan Hao-ching (left) and Chan Yung-jan. (From Chan Yung-jan's Facebook page)

Chan Hao-ching (left) and Chan Yung-jan. (From Chan Yung-jan’s Facebook page)

Chan Hao-ching (詹皓晴) reached the quarterfinals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open in Melbourne Sunday, after beating their British opponents.

The second-seeded Chan sisters won their third-round match against the United Kingdom’s Jocelyn Rae and Anna Smith 6-3, 6-4.

Chan Yung-jan is a three-time runner-up at the Australian Open, twice in the women’s doubles — 2007 and 2015 — and once in the mixed doubles in 2011, all with different partners.

They will next face seventh-seeded Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals.     [FULL  STORY]

Boss of F1 wants road deaths to be seen as ‘pandemic’

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 24, 2016
By: AFP, DAVOS, Switzerland
The head of Formula One’s ruling body, Jean Todt, on Friday said he was lobbying rich and powerful people to support his mission to have road accident deaths considered a “pandemic.”

Speaking to reporters at the annual gathering of policymakers and business moguls at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Todt said: “We need to get some visibility of this problem.”

About 1.25 million people are killed in road accidents each year, costing national governments more than US$500 billion.

The solution, the Frenchman said, can come through technology — cars in Europe have for years been equipped with ABS braking and other gadgets, which have helped reduce deaths.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Beer overcome Kinmen

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 24, 2016
By: Paul Huang / Contributing reporter

Taiwan Beer overcame a sluggish third quarter — in which they netted only

Kinmen Kaoliang’s Sung Yu-hsuen, center, controls the ball during their game against Kinmen Kaoliang at the Banciao Gymnasium in New Taipei City last night. Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times

Kinmen Kaoliang’s Sung Yu-hsuen, center, controls the ball during their game against Kinmen Kaoliang at the Banciao Gymnasium in New Taipei City last night. Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times

nine points — with a dominant fourth to defeat Kinmen Kaoliang 68-65 at the Banciao Gymnasium in New Taipei City last night, stretching their winning streak to three.

Lu Chi-min poured in a career-high 27 points to lead the Brew Crew past their foes in a game they led for a good part of the first half before coughing up the advantage in a dismal third quarter with a total offensive collapse.

Fortunately for Taiwan Beer, the Distillers were not able to cash in on their miscues, with several wasted possessions due to poor shot selection to hand the lead back to Taiwan Beer for good in the fourth.

“We started the rally by playing fundamentally sound defense, which helped us get back on track,” Lu said after the game.     [FULL  STORY]