Sports

Cycling events planned to coincide with Velo-city Taipei 2016

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/01/05
By: Huang Li-yun and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, Jan. 5 (CNA) Taipei will hold a series of events as part of Velo-city

Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (second elft) rides on a riverside bike path. (CNA file photo)

Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (second elft) rides on a riverside bike path. (CNA file photo)

Global 2016, a large international cycling conference, scheduled for Feb. 27-March 1 in Taipei, the city government’s Department of Transportation said Tuesday.

The city government will host a cycling event in Taipei on Feb. 28, with online event registration opening on Tuesday, the department announced at a press conference, adding that the quota for online applications was set at 3,000, while that of on-site applications was set at 1,000.

The event will include a bike parade, a cycling tour around Taipei, a fun contest for children and a pump track. An application fee of NT$200 will be charged to cover the cost of insurance, drinking water and food, a NT$100 meal voucher and a souvenir bag.     [FULL  STORY]

Lin Chih-sheng becomes highest paid baseball player in Taiwan

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/01/04
By: Lee Yu-cheng and Lilian Wu

Taipei, Jan. 4 (CNA) Lin Chih-sheng (林智勝), last year’s most valuable player 201601040019t0001in Taiwan’s professional baseball league, has signed a free agent contract with the Chinatrust Brothers that will make him the highest paid player in the league.

Yang Pei-hung (楊培宏), the Brothers’ general manager, said Monday at a news conference that Lin signed a contract for NT$45 million (US$1.36 million) over three years that includes NT$36 million in salary and NT$9 million in incentives.

In 2015, Lin became the first player in history in the CPBL (Chinese Professional Baseball League) to have more than 30 home runs and 30 steals and a batting average over .300 in a single season, registering 31 homers, 30 stolen bases and a .380 batting average.     [FULL  STORY]

Chan sisters lose opener, Hsieh wins on birthday

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

The Chan sisters began a season in which they will be eyeing a women’s doubles medal at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics with an unexpected loss at the Brisbane International yesterday, while fellow Taiwanese Hsieh Su-wei celebrated her birthday with a victory at the Shenzhen Open.

Second seeds Chan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan lost their opening set of the year and never managed to recover, falling to a 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 10-5 defeat to unseeded pairing Raquel Atawo of the US and Alize Cornet of France in the first round in Brisbane.

The Taiwanese sisters, ranked 12th and seventh in the world respectively, saved four of six break points and converted five of seven, winning 52 percent of the points contested, but it was not enough as they fell to an opening-day defeat in 1 hour, 41 minutes at the Queensland Tennis Centre.

It was a disappointing start to the season for the Chan sisters, who teamed up last year with the intention of qualifying to represent Taiwan at this summer’s Olympic Games and went on to claim the women’s doubles titles in Pattaya, Cincinnatti and Tokyo.     [FULL  STORY]

Dacin Tigers beat Bank of Taiwan in close game

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

Rallying from a double-digit deficit in the second half, the Dacin Tigers tripped

The Dacin Tigers’ Bryan Davis scores a basket against Bank of Taiwan in their SBL game at the Banciao Gymnasium in New Taipei City yesterday. Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times

The Dacin Tigers’ Bryan Davis scores a basket against Bank of Taiwan in their SBL game at the Banciao Gymnasium in New Taipei City yesterday. Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times

up Bank of Taiwan with a superior fourth quarter to escape with a 92-90 triumph at the Banciao Gymnasium in New Taipei City last night for their eighth win of the season.

Chou Yi-hsiang’s clutch drive to the hoop over two Bank of Taiwan defenders with 3.5 seconds remaining on the clock broke a 90-90 tie for the Cats, as they outfought the Financial Wizards in the closing minute to steal the match from the Bankers, who definitely played well enough to win.

“I just tried to do my job with the game on the line and the rest sort of took care of itself,” Chou said of his game-winning shot.

The budding star for the Tigers ended with 27 points to lift his team past a feisty Bank of Taiwan team that led for most of the game.

“I figured I could at least get to the free throw line on a foul by taking it strong to the hoop, and that is exactly what happened,” added Chou, who hit Bank of Taiwan where it hurt the most by coming up with his own rebound after misfiring from the free throw line with 16.1 seconds on the game clock to give Dacin an extra possession to set up his own game-winner.     [FULL  STORY]

Chen Wei-yin hopes to play full MLB season this year

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 02, 2016
By: Staff writer, with CNA

Taiwanese left-handed starting pitcher Chen Wei-yin on Thursday expressed

Former Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Chen Wei-yin of Taiwan, center, watches a pitcher at a training camp at National Taiwan Sport University in Taoyuan on Thursday. Photo: Lin Cheng-kun, Taipei Times

Former Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Chen Wei-yin of Taiwan, center, watches a pitcher at a training camp at National Taiwan Sport University in Taoyuan on Thursday. Photo: Lin Cheng-kun, Taipei Times

the hope that he could play a full Major League Baseball (MLB) season in the US without getting injured in the new year.

Replying to questions raised by reporters on his expectations for this year while visiting his alma mater, National Taiwan Sport University in Taoyuan, Chen said that he would rather not predict his performance in the new year, but hopes to play a full season in good health.

Referring to his possible next step in the MLB, Chen said he does not worry that he has not got a contract from any club so far, adding that it is something for his agent to handle.

He said he believes “there will be an answer to the question” prior to this year’s spring training camps.     [FULL  STORY]

Lu Cheng-ju easily wins SBL Player of Week honor

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 31, 2015
By: Paul Huang  /  Contributing reporter

Lu Cheng-ju easily won the nods from the Basketball Writers’ Association to land the Super Basketball League’s (SBL) Player of the Week honor with another outstanding weekend of play last week.

The Yulon Luxgens small forward, who became the first man in league history to record 600 career three-pointers with six in last Sunday’s showdown against Taiwan Beer, was a near-unanimous choice in the weekly voting as he wowed the opposition with 10 threes from downtown in the Automakers’ two wins over worthy playoff contenders last weekend.

Winning the Player of the Week honor “is quite a surprise for me because I didn’t really have any monstrous games last week,” Lu said upon learning of his selection to the weekly honor for the second time in in just five weeks.

However, there is definitely no denying that his on-court presence has lifted the rest of a Yulon squad who began the season with a 1-3 record before winning six of their next eight to fall within a game of second-placed Taiwan Beer in the standings.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s Wu named influential personality in Olympic Movement

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/12/29
By: Lee Yu-cheng and Y.F. Low

Taipei, Dec. 29 (CNA) Wu Ching-kuo (吳經國), the only Taiwanese member of

(CNA file photo)

(CNA file photo)

the International Olympic Committee (IOC), has been named as one of the most influential individuals involved with the 2016 Olympics.

Wu was listed 24th in the Golden 25 for the 2016 Olympics survey conducted by Around the Rings (ATR), an Internet-based publication covering the business and politics of the Olympic Movement.

Now in its 20th year, the survey ranks 25 individuals or events expected to have a major influence on the Olympics in the year ahead.

ATR said Wu will be involved in the ongoing realignment of SportAccord as president of International Boxing Association (AIBA), the federation that represents Olympic boxing.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s Lin Yi-chun tops Asian rankings in shooting category

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/12/28
By: Lee Chin-wei and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, Dec. 28 (CNA) Taiwanese shotgun marksman Lin Yi-chun (林怡君) has

Lin Yi-chun (left, CNA file photo)

Lin Yi-chun (left, CNA file photo)

jumped to the top spot of the women’s trap shooting in the annual rankings by the Asian Shooting Confederation, which were released Sunday.

Lin claimed the top spot with 1,943 points, moving up two notches from third place last year.

Lin, 34, expressed delight on her Facebook page at taking the title and said she will seek to break her own record.

Representing Taiwan, Lin made her official debut at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. At the Athens Olympics in 2004, she placed eighth in the qualifying rounds of the women’s double trap. Lin qualified for the Taiwan national team to the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, after placing third in the women’s trap in the 2011 ISSF World Cup series in Beijing, China.     [FULL  STORY]

Bankers inch past Braves

Taipei Times
Date:  Dec 28, 2015
By: Paul Huang  /  Contributing reporter

Bank of Taiwan yesterday afternoon nipped a three-game slide with a narrow 73-70 win over the Fubon Braves at the Changhua County Gymnasium to salvage a 1-1 record for the week.

The win also avenged a two-point defeat at the hands of the Braves in their first meeting with the Bankers, who nearly gave the game away in the closing seconds with an ill-advised foul on a three-point attempt by Fubon’s Joseph Lin that could have brought the Braves to within one had Lin converted all three of his free-throw attempts.

Luckily for the Bankers, Lin managed to make only two of the three free throws to leave the Bankers’ lead at two, which gave them just enough breathing room to keep the Braves from turning the tide in the end.

“The coverage on me was quite tight, so I had to find the open man to give us better shot opportunities,” Bank of Taiwan captain Chen Hsuan-hsiang said after the game.      [FULL  STORY]

Kenyan runners top both male, female events in Taipei Marathon

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/12/20
By: Lee Yu-cheng and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, Dec. 20 (CNA) Kenyan runners won both the men’s and women’s

William Chebon Chebor, Ho Chin-ping (何盡平), Fu Shu-ping (傅淑萍) and Nancy Joan Rotich (left to right) (Photo courtesy of Taipei City's Sports Department)

William Chebon Chebor, Ho Chin-ping (何盡平), Fu Shu-ping (傅淑萍) and Nancy Joan Rotich (left to right) (Photo courtesy of Taipei City’s Sports Department)

marathon events of the 2015 Taipei Marathon Sunday, earning them each a cash prize of NT$800,000 (US$24,360).

William Chebon Chebor took first place in the men’s event with a time of two hours, 16 minutes and 15 seconds, while his compatriot, Nancy Joan Rotich, finished first in the women’s event at 2:36:42.

The cash prizes they received could have been even higher — NT$1.8 million each — if they had set a new race record, according to the organizers.

A total of 27,000 people participated in the annual urban marathon, which is made up of three different events — a full marathon, a half marathon, and a 10 kilometer run.     [FULL  STORY]