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
CHAOS: Iranians took to the streets playing celebratory music after reports of Khamenei’s death on Saturday, while mourners also gathered in Tehran yesterday Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a major attack on Iran launched by Israel and the US, throwing the future of the Islamic republic into doubt and raising the risk of regional instability. Iranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency announced the 86-year-old’s death early yesterday. US President Donald Trump said it gave Iranians their “greatest chance” to “take back” their country. The announcements came after a joint US and Israeli aerial bombardment that targeted Iranian military and governmental sites. Trump said the “heavy and pinpoint bombing” would continue through the week or as long
TRUST: The KMT said it respected the US’ timing and considerations, and hoped it would continue to honor its commitments to helping Taiwan bolster its defenses and deterrence US President Donald Trump is delaying a multibillion-dollar arms sale to Taiwan to ensure his visit to Beijing is successful, a New York Times report said. The weapons sales package has stalled in the US Department of State, the report said, citing US officials it did not identify. The White House has told agencies not to push forward ahead of Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), it said. The two last month held a phone call to discuss trade and geopolitical flashpoints ahead of the summit. Xi raised the Taiwan issue and urged the US to handle arms sales to
BIG SPENDERS: Foreign investors bought the most Taiwan equities since 2005, signaling confidence that an AI boom would continue to benefit chipmakers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) market capitalization swelled to US$2 trillion for the first time following a 4.25 percent rally in its American depositary receipts (ADR) overnight, putting the world’s biggest contract chipmaker sixth on the list of the world’s biggest companies by market capitalization, just behind Amazon.com Inc. The site CompaniesMarketcap.com ranked TSMC ahead of Saudi Aramco and Meta Platforms Inc. The Taiwanese company’s ADRs on Tuesday surged to US$385.75 on the New York Stock Exchange, as strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications led to chip supply constraints and boost revenue growth to record-breaking levels. Each TSMC ADR represents
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday said that it had confirmed on Saturday night with its liquefied natural gas (LNG) and crude oil suppliers that shipments are proceeding as scheduled and that domestic supplies remain unaffected. The CPC yesterday announced the gasoline and diesel prices will rise by NT$0.2 and NT$0.4 per liter, respectively, starting Monday, citing Middle East tensions and blizzards in the eastern United States. CPC also iterated it has been reducing the proportion of crude oil imports from the Middle East and diversifying its supply sources in the past few years in response to geopolitical risks, expanding
RSS