Chan Yung-jan dedicated Taiwan’s Fed Cup Asia/Oceania Group I victory to the victims of Saturday’s earthquake in Tainan, after she teamed up with younger sister Chan Hao-ching to win the decisive doubles rubber against Japan late on Saturday night to complete a 2-1 win.
Taiwan had fallen behind in the match to decide which team would advance to the World Group II playoffs in April when Chang Kai-chen fell to a 6-1, 6-4 loss to Kurumi Nara in just 74 minutes at the True Arena Hua Hin in Thailand.
However, Taiwanese No. 1 Hsieh Su-wei got the team back into the match in the second singles rubber by rallying from a set down to defeat Nao Hibino 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, setting up the decider.
Photo courtesy of the Siwei Foundation
The Chan sisters then claimed a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Japanese duo Shuko Aoyama and Eri Hozumi in 1 hour, 30 minutes to complete the 2-1 victory.
“We’ve successfully concluded the Fed Cup by advancing to the World Group II playoffs. Thank you to all our team members who gave their best to win. Team matches are about combining team strengths and using them to the greatest effect… [Chan] Hao-ching and I would like to dedicate our Fed Cup Asia/Oceania Group 1 title to all our friends affected by the earthquake in Tainan. As we experienced the 921 Earthquake, we know too well what a quake feels like and though we cannot be of assistance, we would like to send positive energy from our hearts and we will continue to pray for everyone [affected],” Chan Yung-jan wrote on Facebook following the team’s victory.
Next up for the Taiwanese players is the inaugural Taiwan Open, which begins in Kaohsiung today.
In the World Group on Saturday, Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber was given a hero’s welcome as she marked her return to her homeland with a victory that drew Germany level at 1-1 with Switzerland in the first round.
Seven days after Kerber tamed Serena Williams in the Melbourne Park final, the world No. 2 showed barely any signs of fatigue as she eased past Timea Bacsinszky 6-1, 6-3 to the delight of the home fans.
The tie in Leipzig was one of three World Group showdowns to end level at 1-1 on day one of the competition, while last year’s runners-up Russia had plenty to do on yesterday if they were to progress any further in the women’s team competition as they trailed the Netherlands 2-0.
On the eve of the tie, Netherlands captain Paul Haarhuis said his nation would need “a miracle” to beat four-time champions Russia.
That miracle was only one victory away after Kiki Bertens thumped Ekaterina Makarova 6-3, 6-4, before little-known Richel Hogenkamp hung in for exactly four hours to tame two-time Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-6 (7/4), 5-7, 10-8 in the longest-ever Fed Cup match.
Despite being ranked 124 places behind world No. 17 Kuznetsova, Hogenkamp displayed nerves of steel to beat the 2005 record of Puerto Rican Vilmarie Castellvi, who had defeated Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada in 3 hours, 49 minutes.
While Russian captain Anastasia Myskina had to rally her troops, who include Maria Sharapova, to make a strong comeback in Moscow yesterday, other nations were also hoping for better performances from their top players.
Big reputations counted for little in the tussle between champions the Czech Republic and Romania.
The top-ranked players for both nations were beaten as first Romanian world No. 3 Simona Halep went down 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 6-2 to Karolina Pliskova, then twice Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova missed the chance to put the Czech Republic 2-0 ahead when she was stunned 6-3, 6-4 by Monica Niculescu.
France and Italy were also tied at 1-1 in Marseilles.
Additional reporting by Jonathan Chin
NEXT GENERATION: The four plants in the Central Taiwan Science Park, designated Fab 25, would consist of four 1.4-nanometer wafer manufacturing plants, TSMC said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to begin construction of four new plants later this year, with the aim to officially launch production of 2-nanometer semiconductor wafers by late 2028, Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau director-general Hsu Maw-shin (許茂新) said. Hsu made the announcement at an event on Friday evening celebrating the Central Taiwan Science Park’s 22nd anniversary. The second phase of the park’s expansion would commence with the initial construction of water detention ponds and other structures aimed at soil and water conservation, Hsu said. TSMC has officially leased the land, with the Central Taiwan Science Park having handed over the
The Philippines is working behind the scenes to enhance its defensive cooperation with Taiwan, the Washington Post said in a report published on Monday. “It would be hiding from the obvious to say that Taiwan’s security will not affect us,” Philippine Secretary of National Defense Gilbert Teodoro Jr told the paper in an interview on Thursday last week. Although there has been no formal change to the Philippines’ diplomatic stance on recognizing Taiwan, Manila is increasingly concerned about Chinese encroachment in the South China Sea, the report said. The number of Chinese vessels in the seas around the Philippines, as well as Chinese
URBAN COMBAT: FIM-92 Stinger shoulder-fired missiles from the US made a rare public appearance during early-morning drills simulating an invasion of the Taipei MRT The ongoing Han Kuang military exercises entered their sixth day yesterday, simulating repelling enemy landings in Penghu County, setting up fortifications in Tainan, laying mines in waters in Kaohsiung and conducting urban combat drills in Taipei. At 5am in Penghu — part of the exercise’s first combat zone — participating units responded to a simulated rapid enemy landing on beaches, combining infantry as well as armored personnel. First Combat Zone Commander Chen Chun-yuan (陳俊源) led the combined armed troops utilizing a variety of weapons systems. Wang Keng-sheng (王鏗勝), the commander in charge of the Penghu Defense Command’s mechanized battalion, said he would give
AUKUS: The Australian Ambassador to the US said his country is working with the Pentagon and he is confident that submarine issues will be resolved Australian Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd on Friday said that if Taiwan were to fall to China’s occupation, it would unleash China’s military capacities and capabilities more broadly. He also said his country is working with the Pentagon on the US Department of Defense’s review of the AUKUS submarine project and is confident that all issues raised will be resolved. Rudd, who served as Australian prime minister from 2007 to 2010 and for three months in 2013, made the remarks at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado and stressed the longstanding US-Australia alliance and his close relationship with the US Undersecretary