The organizer says ‘it’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance’ before the highway opens

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/01/20
By: Teng Pei-ju, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The first section of the Suhua Highway Improvement Project

is scheduled for opening before the coming Lunar New Year, but before that, enthusiastic runners will get an opportunity to stride over the newly built highway and hold the beauty of Yilan County in view on Sunday.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance for the participants before the highway opens,” said the organizer of the highway run, the Sports Federation of Suao Township, as reported by the Liberty Times.

The organizer said the purpose of the running was to celebrate the opening of the Suao–Dongao section of the improvement project which had been in construction for five years.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/01/20
By: Kuan-lin Liu and Lee Chin-wei

Taipei, Jan. 20 (CNA) World No. 1 Taiwanese badminton star Tai Tzu-ying (戴資穎) will

compete in the women’s singles final at the 2018 Malaysia Masters after defeating longtime competitor Carolina Marin of Spain in a grueling three-game match Saturday.

The match opened to a rocky start for Tai, where after the score see-sawed to 7-7 at one point, Marin maintained the lead for the remainder of the first game all the way to 21 points.

Tai, however, came back with a vengeance in the second game, taking the lead instantly with four consecutive points, ultimately winning the game and heading into a final tie-breaker.    [FULL  STORY]

‘I’M ALMOST DEAD’: World No. 1 Simona Halep struggled to defeat Lauren Davis after nearly four hours during which Davis lost a toenail and Halep served four times

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 21, 2018
By: AFP, MELBOURNE

Taiwanese veteran Hsieh Su-wei reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam for only the

second time yesterday, when she rolled past Agnieszka Radwanska at the Australian Open.

Hsieh, who knocked out third seed Garbine Muguruza in the second round, followed up with an assured 6-2, 7-5 victory over the Polish former world No. 2 in 1 hour, 39 minutes.

Her reward is a last-16 clash with the 2016 champion, Angelique Kerber.

“I come back to the big court again” an excited Hsieh said when told she would face Kerber, but could she take a third big-name scalp at Melbourne?

“I don’t know,” she said. “But I will try.”    [FULL  STORY]

Registration is now open for the marathon on March 24

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/01/19
By: Duncan DeAeth, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – It was announced on Jan. 19 that registration for the

annual marathon on Matsu’s Beigan Island is now open. The marathon will be held on March 24.

For those who are up to the challenge, the marathon is an excellent reason to visit one of Taiwan’s spectacular outlying islands. It is also great motivation to start getting in shape ahead of the spring and summer seasons!

There are a few different divisions of the marathons that participants can choose from; the ultra-marathon (50km), the half-marathon (25km), the “challenge” marathon (12.5km), the parent-child marathon (3km).    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/01/19
By: Lee Chin-wei and William Yen

Taipei, Jan. 19 (CNA) World No. 1 Taiwanese badminton player Tai Tzu-ying (戴資穎)

defeated Chen Yufei (陳雨菲) of China Friday 21-18, 21-15, progressing into the women’s singles semifinals at the 2018 Malaysia Masters.

From the start of the match, Chen placed tremendous pressure on Tai with the score see-sawing to 18-18 at one point, but after that the Taiwanese scored three consecutive points to win the first game.

The second game saw Chen picking up pace for a short while until Tai, who was up 5-4, started to add horsepower to widen the gap, taking the score to 21-15, and securing victory.

The win will allow Tai to face Carolina Marin of Spain in the semi-finals of the Badminton World Federation’s (BWF) World Tour Super 500 Perodua Malaysia Masters 2018.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 20, 2018
By: Dave Carroll  /  Staff reporter, with AFP, MELBOURNE

Taiwanese players yesterday completed a clean sweep in the second round of the

women’s doubles at the Australian Open, with Latisha Chan, Chan Hao-ching and Hsieh Su-wei safely advancing to the third round, as the temperature in Melbourne climbed to a stifling 43°C.

Top seeds Latisha Chan and Andrea Sestini Hlavackova took just 70 minutes to see off the challenge of Oksana Kalashnikova of Georgia and Varvara Lepchenko of the US 6-0, 7-5 on Show Court 3.

The Taiwanese-Czech duo saved three of four break points and converted five of 11, winning 65 of the 107 points contested.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s former WTA doubles No.1 Hsieh Su-Wei shocked No.3 seed Garbiñe Muguruza at the Australian Open with a straight-set victory of 7-6(1), 6-4 to proceed into the round of 32

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/01/18
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)—Taiwan’s former WTA doubles No.1 Hsieh Su-Wei shocked

No.3 seed Garbiñe Muguruza at the Australian Open with a straight-set victory of 7-6(1), 6-4 to proceed into the round of 32.

At 32 years old, Hsieh is currently No. 88 in the WTA singles rankings.

“It’s never easy to play against top 20 girls,” Hsieh was cited as telling the press after the match by a report on the WTA official website. “I do a little bit better today and try to hang in there. I know the weather is going to be a little bit tough today because I hear weather is going to be over 39 degrees. I was thinking, ‘Ah, I’m from Asia. I maybe can handle it better than other girls.'”

Hsieh quickly got the upper hand with 5-2 lead, but Muguruza fought back to level the opening set. The Taiwanese tennis star quashed the Spaniard during the tie-break by dropping only one point. An identical lead in the second set proved too much a gap for Muguruza to close and Hsieh served out the upset on her second match point.
[FULL  STORY]

‘ANCHORMAN’: Roger Federer was surprised when Will Ferrell stepped out of the crowd, slipped into character as Ron Burgundy, and conducted the post-match interview

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 17, 2018
By: Dave Carroll  /  Staff reporter, with AP, MELBOURNE

Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday survived a three-set thriller in the first round of the

Australian Open as Roger Federer picked up where he left off on a day when Maria Sharapova and Novak Djokovic helped ensure there were all kinds of comebacks.

Hsieh lost the first set to love against world No. 113 Zhu Lin, with the 23-year-old Chinese looking comfortable and heading for victory before the match totally changed in the second set, the Taiwanese world No. 82 storming back to love to level the match at a set apiece.

“In the first set, she was playing very aggressive, but then she changed her game style in the second set. She played so well that I just didn’t have any chance to attack, she didn’t miss a ball,” Zhu told Xinhua news agency.    [FULL  STORY]

A 46-year-old physical education teacher ran her personal best of 3:02:31 to top the women’s domestic category at the 2018 Kinmen Marathon on Sunday, becoming the oldest domestic champion in the event’s history

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/01/15
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)—A 46-year-old physical education teacher ran her personal best

of 3:02:31 to top the women’s domestic field at the 2018 Kinmen Marathon on Sunday, becoming the oldest domestic champion in the event’s history.

Ho Ching-yen (何慶燕), a physical education teacher at Tainan Municipal Jiali Junior High School and used to be a basketball player, took up running after her friends introduced her to the sport a little more than four years ago. Since then, she has run many races.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwanese athlete carries Olympic torch in -16℃ weather in Incheon

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/01/12
By: Renée Salmonsen, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Friday morning the Olympic torch was passed to a six-

member Taiwanese delegation, including Universiade athlete Li Chih-kai (李智凱) in Incheon, South Korea, reported Apple Daily.

Each member held the torch and ran for 200 meters (650 feet) before passing it off.

In accordance with tradition, the Olympic torch was ignited on October 24 of last year, approximately 100 days before the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics February 9-25. The torch will be carried around 17 South Korean cities and pass through the grip of 7,500 torchbearers before this year’s games.    [FULL  STORY]