Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/07/25
By: Lung Po-an and William Yen

Taipei, July 25 (CNA) The women’s division of the 2018 William Jones Cup,

an annual international basketball tournament, opened Wednesday at the Xinzhuang Gymnasium in New Taipei.

With the participation of a total of six teams from New Zealand, South Korea, Japan, India, and the host country, Taiwan which is represented by two teams, the tournament is being conducted on a single round-robin basis and will run through July 29.

Taiwan’s Republic of China I team warmed up slow and was routed by Japan 55-88 on its opening game.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/07/24
By: Chao Li-yen and Y.F. Low

Taipei, July 24 (CNA) The East Asian Olympic Committee (EAOC) has revoked Taichung’s right to host the first East Asian Youth Games slated for 2019, reportedly due to “political factors,” the government of the central Taiwan city said Tuesday.

The decision was made following a vote in an EAOC council meeting held Tuesday, according to a statement released by the Taichung City government.

It described the EAOC decision as “regrettable, hasty and brutal” and called on the committee not to sacrifice the rights of athletes because of political intervention.

“This not only violates the purpose and sportsmanship of Olympic games but also overlooks the efforts made by all citizen of Taichung and Taiwan as well as the participating countries and regions,” the city government said.

The city said it has already spent nearly NT$677 million on preparations for the games.    [SOURCE]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/07/22
By: Lee Chin-wei and Shih Hsiu-chuan

Taipei, July 22 (CNA) Taiwanese javelin thrower Cheng Chao-tsun (鄭兆村) on

Saturday beat his own record this year with a throw of 84.60 meters at the Gotas Ungdomsspel (Youth Games)in Sweden, scoring the second best performance in Asia this year.

Cheng, 24, is gearing up for the Asian Games, which will begin August 18 in the Indonesian cities of Jakarta and Palembang.

His performance in Sweden will qualify him for the IAAF Continental Cup, a quadrennial track and field competition that will be held in September in the Czech Republic, once he can remain in the top two in the Asian records until July 31.

Last year, Cheng set a new Asian record with a throw of 91.36 meters on his way to winning a gold medal at the Universiade in Taipei.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News  
Date: 2018/07/22
By:  Central News Agency

Taipei, July 22 (CNA) Taiwan lost to the Philippines in the final moment of the game on Saturday night after the latter’s point guard stunned the national team and a full crowd of 7,000-plus fans with a game-changing three-pointer to steal victory with a score of 77-76, at the 40th William Jones Cup in New Taipei City.

Taiwan, playing under the name Chinese Taipei, was close to clinching the win at Xinzhuang Gymnasium when its point guard Chen Ying-chun got called for a reach-in foul as he attempted a layup by Thirdy Ravena.

He sank the go-ahead free-throws that gave the home squad a 76-74 lead with 3.1 seconds left in regulation.

The Philippines’ point guard Joseph Matthew Nieto, however, was left wide open and he made a buzzer-beating triple that sealed the deal with 0.2 seconds on the clock, leaving Team Taiwan and a full crowd of 7,000-plus fans speechless.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/07/22
By: Huang Tzu-chiang and Evelyn Kao

Singapore, July 22 (CNA) Taiwan’s top-seeded badminton player Chou Tien-chen

(周天成) clinched the men’s singles title at the 2018 Singapore Open on Sunday, defeating his compatriot Hsu Jen-hao (許仁豪) 21-13, 21-13 in the final.

The two men will return with gold and silver medals, marking Taiwan’s best performance in the men’s singles at a BWF World Tour Super 500 event.

The Singapore Open carries a total purse of US$350,000.

Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying (戴資穎), who won the women’s singles title at the Singapore Open last year and did not compete in this year’s event, reportedly is eying the World Championships in Nanjing at the end of July.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/07/20
By: Huang Tzu-chiang and Romulo Huan

Singapore, July 20 (CNA) Two Taiwanese badminton players advanced to the men’s singles semifinals at the 2018 Singapore Open on Friday, including top-seeded Chou Tien-chen (周天成).

Chou, currently ranked seventh in the world, and one of only two top 10 players appearing in either the men’s or women’s singles draw in Singapore, got past eight-seeded South Korean Lee Hyun Il 21-18, 21-6 in his quarterfinal Friday.

He raced out to a 15-7 lead in the opening game, but Lee fought back to take a 17-16 lead and put the Taiwanese top seed under pressure.

Chou won two of the next three points to knot the score at 18 and ran off the last three points to win the game. He ran away with the second game to clinch the match in 32 minutes.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/07/20
By: Lee Chin-wei and William Yen

Taipei, July 20 (CNA) American professional basketball player, Jordan Bell, who

plays for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA), arrived in Taiwan Thursday for a six-day visit to promote the playoffs of a college student 3-on-3 basketball tournament.

The event, held Friday to Sunday in Taipei, is part of the Cathay Financial Holdings NBA 3x basketball competition that kicked off May 12 in the capital city and continued throughout various cities across Taiwan, the tournament’s website pointed out.

The tournament features both male and female divisions in the elite and open groups where students who have registered for college-level games in 2016 and 2017 in Taiwan will be required to play in the elite group, the website said.

The winners will be rewarded with a unique NBA experience trip to the U.S., the website added.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/07/18
By: Joseph Yeh, CNA staff reporter 

The William Jones Cup, an annual summer basketball tournament that has been a fixture on Taiwan’s sports calendar for 40 years, is once again in full swing at New Taipei’s Xinzhuang Gymnasium.

One of only a handful of international sports events played regularly in Taiwan, it gives local fans the chance to show their national pride in backing the country’s blue (national A) and white (national B) teams in both the men’s and women’s divisions of the competition.

In recent years, however, the tourney has also turned into a “home” event for the Philippines and its rabid supporters, drawn from a pool of 150,000 Filipino migrant workers in Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwanese fans hoot and holler as France becomes the World Cup Champion

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/07/16
By: Renée Salmonsen, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) —  Crowds of football fans gathered along Ketagalan Boulevard at the grass field in front of the Presidential Palace to watch the final match of the World Cup Sunday, July 15.

China Television network began showing World Cup recaps around 3 p.m. on a 450 inch screen. Fans began pouring in around 9 p.m. to snag a good spot to watch the live broadcast of the France versus Croatia match at 11 p.m.

Around 5,000 people are estimated to have attended the late night viewing, according to UDN.

Crowds cheered and applauded as France took the lead over Croatia in a 4 – 2 game and became the World Cup Champions for the second time.
[FULL  STORY]