Yang Yu-ming's (
Jeoutai Elephants' all-star shooting guard beat out the 37-point night of Taiwan Beer's Lin "the Monster" Chih-jeh (
Yang an ankle sprain and scored 20 hard-earned points, eight of which came in the game's final three minutes, to carry the Elephants past the league-leading Yulon Dinos for the victory.
Many of his baskets came right after the Dinos had scored big buckets to remain within striking distance of the Elephants.
His selection indicates that importance of "heart" rather than flair in earning the award.
Looking ahead to the weekend, Taiwan Beer faces a pair of back-breaking challenges.
The brew masters will get a date with the ready-to-explode Sina Lions, losers of two straight, tomorrow afternoon before taking the floor again on Sunday night against the tenacious Tigers.
This will be a major test for Taiwan Beer standout Lin Chih-jeh, the league's top scorer, who is averaging 24.1 points per game, as he is expected to play all but a few minutes in both contests.
Although Lin will probably get his usual 25 to 30 points in each contest, it's the effort that comes from his teammates that will ultimately tip the scales.
A lot will be on the line for the Tigers on Sunday as they cling on to a slim half-game margin for the fourth and final spot for postseason play.
Tien Lei of the Tigers should have a big game, because he is too quick for Taiwan Beer's big men inside and can shoot over the heads of the guards.
Elephants versus Mars
The meeting between the Elephants and the BCC Mars tomorrow night will be the most evenly matched game of the weekend.
The Elephants have won four straight and could end in a tie with the Mars and the Tigers for third place in league standings.
Wu Dai-hao (
Fresh off an impressive win over the Dinos, the Mars will look to run up the score against the Elephants, especially with passing wizard Yen Hsing-shu (
Dinos versus Bank of Taiwan
Even though the Dinos will be without the services of lead scorer Chen Hsin-an (
With hopes for the postseason already gone, it may be time for coach Wei Chen-ming (
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set