AT HOME:Following the upset victory, Taiwan’s Lu Yen-hsun told the ‘Nottingham Post’ how having friends who live in the city helps him relax at the Aegon Open

Taipei Times
Date:  Jun 26, 2015
By: Dave Carroll  /  Staff reporter, with AP, NOTTINGHAM, England

Taiwanese No. 1 Lu Yen-hsun stunned third seed Feliciano Lopez at the Aegon Open

in Nottingham, England, on Wednesday to advance to the quarter-finals of the Wimbledon warm-up tournament.

World No. 61 Lu saved both break points the world No. 16 created in the first set and converted one of three to claim a 6-3 advantage.

The Taiwanese then broke the Spaniard again in the first game of the second set and never looked back, converting another of the two further break points he created to complete a shock 6-3, 6-2 victory over the Spaniard on the grass courts at the Nottingham Tennis Centre in just 1 hour, 6 minutes.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/06/25
By: C.W. Li and Lillian Lin

Taipei, June 25 (CNA) Jeremy Lin (林書豪), the first NBA player of Taiwanese descent

who enjoys tremendous popularity in Taiwan, is scheduled to arrive in Taipei on June 29 for a weeklong visit.

Similar to his Taiwan trip of the previous year, Lin will attend a basketball camp where 60 high school and junior high school basketball players selected from around the island will have opportunities to be coached by the NBA player.

On July 4, 600 lucky fans will have access an event where Lin will meet with fans at the National Taiwan University gymnasium.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/06/23
By: Lin Hung-han and Elaine Hou

Taipei, June 23 (CNA) Taiwan will attend the Summer Universiade next month in Gwangju, South Korea, despite the spread of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) there, the Sports Administration said Tuesday.

After an extensive assessment of the development of the epidemic, it was decided that Taiwanese athletes will participate in the sports event as scheduled, said Ho Jow-fei (何卓飛), director-general of the Sports Administration.

He said the decision was made earlier in the day at an inter-agency meeting, based on information provided by the ministries of foreign affairs and health and welfare, and doctors and representatives from the Chinese Taipei University Sports Federation.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/06/22
Ko Wen-je (柯文哲)

Taipei, June 22 (CNA) Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) announced Monday that the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2017 Summer Universiade will be held at the Taipei Municipal Track and Field Stadium rather than at the controversial and uncompleted Taipei Dome.

Instead of the Taipei Dome, which is still under construction, the ceremonies will be held at the municipal stadium and the city will report the venue change to the International University Sports Federation (FISU), he said.

Ko’s announcement sparked concern over whether the decision, unilaterally made by the Taipei city government, will be granted approval by the FISU.

Taipei was given the right to host the 2017 Summer Universiade in 2011 and promised that the Taipei Dome would be the event’s main venue.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/06/22
By: Lin Hung-han and S.C. Chang

Taipei, June 22 (CNA) Taiwan manager Kuo Tai-yuan (郭泰源) said Monday that given the chance

he would “definitely put Wei-yin Chen on the roster” of Taiwan’s national team for the inaugural 2015 WBSC Premier tournament scheduled for mid-November in Taiwan and Japan.

The Baltimore Orioles left-hander is only 3-4 this year after winning a career-high 16 games in 2014, but his 2.89 ERA is the best among Orioles starters.

He was sent down to the minors on June 15 to make room on the team’s 25-man roster for Chris Parmelee, but is expected to return to the major league roster on June 26 and start against the Cleveland Indians that day.

Chen, who will be a free agent at the end of this season, would be a strong roster addition for Kuo, who is assembling a team of 13 pitchers and 15 fielders for Taiwan’s national team and said he was most concerned about his pitching staff.     [FULL  STORY]

LUCKY ESCAPE:Lo Chia-jen of the EDA Rhinos started the ninth with a 7-3 lead, but was relieved by Huang Sheng-hsiung after he handed the Brothers three runs

Taipei Times
Date:  Jun 22, 2015
By: Paul Huang  /  Contributing reporter

The Lamigo Monkeys concluded a four-game home stand with a convincing 5-1 victory over the

Uni-President Lions at the Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium yesterday.

The win marked the second straight game that the Monkeys pitchers held the Lions to a lone run, capping the total runs allowed by the Primates to just four over three games.

Starter Hsu “Cat Man” Ming-chieh was not at his best, but he managed to pitch out of trouble on several occasions to hold the Lions to only one run on the eight hits he gave up over seven innings in his first start in more than a month.

“[Being a starter] is different from my previous relieving role, so it takes some getting used to,” Hsu said about being promoted to the starting role after spending more than a month in the bullpen.

The Monkeys needed little time getting to Justin Thomas with two quick runs off the Lions starter when Yu Teh-lung doubled, took third on a wild pitch and scored on Lin Chih-sheng’s sacrifice fly, before back-to-back singles by Lin “Chubby Kid” Hung-yu and Chen Chun-hsiu made it 2-0 in favor of the hosts.     [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 22, 2015
By: Dave Carroll  /  Staff reporter, with AFP, BIRMINGHAM, England

Taiwan’s Chan Yung-jan and Zheng Jie of China lost their doubles semi-final at the Aegon Classic

in Birmingham, England, on Saturday, falling to a 7-5, 6-3 defeat to fourth-seeded Spanish duo Garbine Muguruza and Carla Suarez Navarro.

The cross-strait pairing saved 13 of the 17 break-point chances they faced and converted two of four, but it was not enough as their opponents won 71 of the 119 points contested to wrap up the victory in 1 hour, 21 minutes at Edgbaston Priory Club.

In yesterday’s final, Muguruza and Suarez Navarro were due to face Czech duo Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka, who cruised past Michaella Krajicek of the Netherlands and Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic 6-2, 6-2 in Saturday’s other semi-final.

Chan and Zheng were heading south to Eastbourne to compete in the doubles of the final grass-court warm-up tournament before Wimbledon. Also taking part in the Aegon International this week is Chan’s younger sister, Chan Hao-ching, who is teaming up with Flavia Pennetta of Italy — Hsieh Su-wei’s regular partner.     [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 21, 2015
By: Paul Huang  /  Contributing reporter

Powered by Chen Chiang-ho’s first home run of the season, the Chinatrust Brothers erased an

early deficit with a three-run sixth and went on to defeat the EDA Rhinos 8-4 at the Taipei Tianmu Baseball Stadium last night to jumpstart their makeup week.

The win came after the most-storied franchise in the league’s history announced the signing of former US Major League player Jose Contreras of Cuba.

The resumption of a rain-suspended May 24 contest in Hualien began in the top of the third, in which the visiting Rhinos scored three runs on the back of an RBI groundout by Lin Yi-chuan and a two-run single by Yang Guan-wei to turn a 1-3 deficit into a 4-3 lead.      [FULL  STORY]