Sports

Chan Hao-ching survives Taiwan’s Wimbledon rout

SOLE SURVIVOR:Chan advanced in women’s doubles on a day that saw Chan Yung-jan, Chuang Chia-jung and Chan Chin-wei lose in doubles, and Hsieh Su-Wei in singles

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 03, 2015
By: Dave Carroll  /  Staff reporter

Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching advanced to the second round of the women’s doubles at

Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan returns to Lucie Safarova of Czech Republic in their second-round match of the Wimbledon Championships in London on Wednesday. Photo: EPA

Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan returns to Lucie Safarova of Czech Republic in their second-round match of the Wimbledon Championships in London on Wednesday. Photo: EPA

Wimbledon on Wednesday as her elder sister, Chan Yung-jan, as well as Chuang Chia-jung and Chan Chin-wei all crashed out, while Hsieh Su-wei fell to the sixth seed in the second round of the women’s singles.

Chan Hao-ching and Alison van Uytvanck cruised past German duo Julia Goerges and Carina Witthoeft 6-2, 6-2 in 56 minutes on Court 4 at the All England Club in London.

The Taiwanese-Belgian pairing saved the only break point they faced and converted four of 11, winning 61 of the 98 points contested to advance to a second-round clash with Johanna Konta and Maria Sanchez yesterday after the British-American duo defeated lucky losers Misaki Doi of Japan and Stephanie Vogt of Liechtenstein 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) in their first-round clash.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s Lu crashes, Hsieh cruises

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 01, 2015
By: Dave Carroll  /  Staff reporter

Lu Yen-hsun crashed out of the men’s singles at Wimbledon in London yesterday, while

Taiwan’s Lu Yen-hsun returns against Germany’s Dustin Brown during their first-round match at Wimbledon in London, England, yesterday. Photo: AFP

Taiwan’s Lu Yen-hsun returns against Germany’s Dustin Brown during their first-round match at Wimbledon in London, England, yesterday. Photo: AFP

fellow Taiwanese Hsieh Su-wei cruised into the second round of the women’s singles late on Monday.

Taiwanese world No. 61 Lu started well against world No. 102 Dustin Brown, winning the first set, but the unorthodox German then began to frustrate Lu, bouncing back to complete a 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 victory in 2 hours, 7 minutes.

The German saved three of five break points and converted four of 13 to set up a second-round clash with either 10th seed Rafael Nadal of Spain or Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil.

World No. 131 Hsieh caused a minor upset in the final match on Court 5 on Monday when she ousted world No. 50 Kaia Kanepi of Estonia 6-1, 6-4 in just 56 minutes.     [FULL  STORY]

Jeremy Lin impressed by game tactics of Popovich, Rivers

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/06/29
By: Jeffrey Wu

Taipei, June 29 (CNA) Jeremy Lin (林書豪), a point guard for the NBA’s Los Angeles 201506290011t0002Lakers, said Monday that he was impressed by the game tactics developed by coaches Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs coach and Doc Rivers of the Los Angeles Clippers.

“There are two coaches in the NBA who are very smart — Greg Popovich and Doc Rivers,” Lin said at a press conference to kick off a week-long visit to Taiwan.

Although the two renowned head coaches play a lot of pick and rolls in their offensive sets, they can still set up other “creative” plays after each timeout, Lin said.

However, Lin said that his former New York Knicks head coach Mike D’Antoni remains his favorite in the NBA because his own playing style best fits D’Antoni’s run-and-gun offense.     [FULL  STORY]

Jeremy Lin sets targets for off-season practice

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/06/29
By: Jeffrey Wu

Taipei, June 29 (CNA) Jeremy Lin (林書豪), the first NBA player of Taiwanese descent, 201506290005t0001outlined his practice plans in preparation for the next NBA season, upon arrival in Taiwan Monday.

The Los Angeles Lakers point guard said at a press briefing that he had just come off a three and half week rest period and had begun private training.

Following the advice of legendary point guard Steve Nash, Lin said, he will be working to improve his 3-point shooting rate to 40 percent and strengthen his defense against pick and roll.

Arrving at about 1 a.m. Monday to dozens of cheering fans at the airport, the 26-year-old is scheduled to stay in Taiwan for one week as part of an Asian tour.     [FULL  STORY]

UniPresident Lions trounce Lamigo Monkeys to end first half on high note

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

Scoring early and often, the Uni-President Lions humbled the Lamigo Monkeys in a 9-0 shutout at Taipei’s Tianmu Baseball Stadium last night to close out an otherwise disappointing first half on a high note.

The win not only nipped a four-game slide for the Lions, but also avenged a three-game sweep by the first-half champs last week in which the Lions were outscored by a combined total of 16-4 on the road.

HOPEFUL

Even though they would settle for a league-worst mark of 26-33-1, a half-game behind the third-place Chinatrust Brothers, skipper Chen Lien-hung is hopeful that his troops can still have a strong second half.     [FULL  STORY]

Taipei wins 3 golds, 4 silvers at International Children’s Games

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/06/27
By: Lin Chang-hsuan and Lee Hsin-Yin

Taipei, June 27 (CNA) A sports team from Taipei grabbed three gold and four silver medals Saturday on the first day of the 2015 International Children’s Games, an International Olympic Committee-sanctioned event in which athletes aged between 12 and 15 participate in a variety of events.

The winner of the team’s first gold was Hung Chieh-yu, who broke her own record as runner-up in last year’s event to stand out with a time of 2’43″54 in the girls’ 200 meter-breast stroke.

The team also did well in women’s artistic gymnastics, with Fang Ko-ching, Fu Chih-yi, Lai Pin-ju and Chen Chian-shiun winning silver.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s Chan makes doubles final

CROWD-PLEASERS:After their Russian opponents withdrew, the cross-strait duo played an exhibition match on Centre Court involving Chan’s younger sister and fitness coach

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 28, 2015
By: Dave Carroll  /  Staff reporter, with AFP, EASTBOURNE, England

Taiwan’s Chan Yung-jan and Zheng Jie advanced to the doubles final at the Aegon International in Eastbourne, England, on Friday when their semi-final opponents, second-seeded Russian duo Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina, withdrew.

The cross-strait duo, who have a 10-5 record this season, were due to face Caroline Garcia of France and Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia, who have an 18-11 record, in the final late yesterday at Devonshire Park.

Chan is the reigning doubles champion after she teamed up with her younger sister, Chan Hao-ching, to defeat Martina Hingis and Flavia Pennetta in Eastbourne last year.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwanese team participating in world police, fire games in U.S.

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/06/27
By: T.S. Cheng and Lillian Lin

Washington, June 27 (CNA) A 43-member team of judo and taekwondo fighters, as well as 201506270013t0001athletes in other sports, is representing Taiwan’s police and fire departments in the 2015 World Police and Fire Games being held in Fairfax County in the U.S. state of Virginia from June 26-July 5.

A total of 12,000 participants from 70 countries around the world are competing in 61 events, including judo, karate, taekwondo, wrestling, swimming, rifle and pistol shooting, triathlon and decathlon for individuals, and group contests of tug of war, ultimate firefighter and dragon boat.     [FULL  STORY]

Lu edged out in quarter-finals

MARATHON:Lu Yen-hsun lost the first set from 4-1 up, but fought back in the second to take the match to a third-set tiebreak, but he could not finish the job

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 27, 2015
By: Dave Carroll  /  Staff reporter

Taiwanese No. 1 Lu Yen-hsun lost a tight quarter-final against Alexandr Dolgopolov at the Aegon Open in Nottingham, England, on Thursday, but will travel to Wimbledon in good spirits after a good showing on the grass courts at the Nottingham Tennis Centre this week.

World No. 61 Lu fell to a 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) defeat to the Ukrainian world No. 75, against whom he now has a 0-3 career record.

Lu saved eight of 11 break points and converted three of seven, but it was not enough as Dolgopolov edged the tight contest in 2 hours, 9 minutes, winning 112 of the 217 points contested.     [FULL  STORY]

‘As long as I can pitch, I want to challenge myself’: Wang

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/06/24
By: Lin Hung-han and Lee Hsin-Yin

Taipei, June 24 (CNA) Taiwanese pitcher Chien-ming Wang insisted through his

'As long as I can pitch, I want to challenge myself': Wang

‘As long as I can pitch, I want to challenge myself’: Wang

agents on Wednesday that he can still pitch and would continue to seek a better opportunity in the United States after being released June 19 by the Atlanta Braves.

“(My release) is the reality of professional sports,” Wang said in a statement. “As long as I can pitch, I want to challenge myself.”

Wang announced Wednesday that he has signed a contract with the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs, which is part of an independent baseball league that is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, and will start a game for the team on June 26.

The 35-year-old right-hander seemed well aware that the move could be his last stop in a professional baseball journey that showed tremendous promise and gave him hero status in Taiwan before being derailed by injuries.     [FULL  STORY]