The 2005 Summer Universiade at Izmir, Turkey officially kicked off on Thursday, with over 7,800 athletes from more than 150 nations participating in this year's event.
The biennial competition, the 23rd of its kind since the inaugural games were held at Turin, Italy in 1959, is organized by the International University Sports Federation, the world's second-largest athletic association next to the International Olympic Committee.
Nations that choose to take part in the competition must have representation in the 10 compulsory sports (athletics, basketball, fencing, soccer, gymnastics, swimming, diving, water polo, tennis, volleyball), as well as up to four optional sports selected by the host country, which this year are taekwondo, sailing, wrestling and archery.
BASKETBALL
Taiwan began the games by defeating a taller squad from Canada in women's basketball in a 71-56 decision on Wednesday, before making it two in a row with a 70-55 win over England on Thursday.
Wednesday's game was an eye-opening experience for Team Taiwan as it adjusted to a slightly different standard of officiating.
After making the necessary adjustments, the Taiwanese women quickly took control of the game by dominating both ends of the floor en route to a 21-7 lead after the first quarter.
Taiwan's lead was reduced to nine points (35-26) by halftime as center Cheng Hui-yun found herself on the bench for most of the second quarter with four fouls, leaving the Canadians a chance to cut the deficit by nearly a half.
A 15-0 run by Taiwan in the third quarter established a 30-plus point lead that proved too much for Team Canada to overcome, ending the game with a 15-point margin in which the Taiwanese second stringers played nearly the entire fourth quarter.
Thursday's contest against England started slowly.
Like the first game, Team Taiwan's 21-11 first-quarter lead shrank to just four points by the end of the second quarter (35-31).
Sharp outside shooting by guard Chiang Fong-jun, coupled with Cheng's dominant inside presence provided the necessary boost for Taiwan as it pulled away with a 59-44 lead in the game-deciding third quarter.
SOCCER
A 3-2 margin in the penalty-kick round gave Team Taiwan the win over Ireland in women's soccer following a 3-3 draw on Thursday.
The game was later ruled a tie upon further review, which would only recognize the result of the penalty-kick round in the event that a tie-breaker is necessary to determine a winner between teams with identical win-loss-tie records.
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