On a cold afternoon where most players didn't bother to take off their jackets inside the Taipei Gymnasium on Nanjing East Road, 48 of the world's best women pool players began an intense competition to determine who would be the world's best.
Taiwan's top-ranked player, Lin Yuan-chun, was in a gruff, almost irritable mood minutes before her first match. Her attitude belied her nickname, "Female Assassin," as she has made a habit of staring down opponents with her stealth-like game.
With a WPA ranking of No. 6, Lin is one of the early favorites in this four-day tournament. Today she played well, but not well enough to put her in a good mood.
A product of Taoyuan area pool clubs, Lin began playing at the age of 17, and has been a professional for six years. She routinely plays against men, including World 9-Ball Champion Wu Chia-ching.
Lin has appeared on televised tournaments in Taiwan, gaining the skills to compete against the world's best.
Formidable competition, in fact, is close at hand, as Jennifer "9mm" Barretta of the US entered the gymnasium in a pair of cowboy boots and an iPod strapped to her belt. The cold, humid weather didn't affect her. She quickly stripped off her coat to reveal a pink stretch top that accentuates her blond hair and her pin-up figure.
Her opponent, Estelle Bijnen, a tall blond from the Netherlands, didn't seem to be distracted by Barretta's good looks.
Bijnen suffered early losses in Kaohsiung last year, quickly knocking her out of the competition.
Bijnen needs better early results this year to advance to the single elimination round of 24 players.
"The humidity affects play a little bit -- it makes the cue ball stick a little more and everything is a little slower," Bijnen said.
For those unfamiliar with women's 9-ball, matches typically take one hour to play, much slower then men's matches, which can be over in less than 30 minutes in a race to five format.
"The difference between men and women is in the head," Bijnen said. "Women think of everything while men simply concentrate on the shot ahead of them."
She admitted that some matches can proceed slowly, as women like to use defensive plays while also taking plenty of time to line up shots.
Still, the slow play isn't expected to hurt turnout. While admission is free, organizers will limit the audience to 5,000 spectators a day, on a first come first served basis.
"This tournament has always been very successful and has always drawn a large crowd," Robert Huang, organizer of the Amway Cup, said. "There will be no less than 3,800 spectators a day during the tournament."
Over the past eight years, the tournament paid for travel expenses and appearance fees for top-ranked players such as Allison Fisher, and Jeanette Lee, the Korean-American sensation also known as "The Black Widow."
This year, however, the event is doubling as the Women's World 9-Ball Championship, and prize money is taking the place of appearance fees.
"Jeanette Lee's appearance fee rose to US$10,000 per day this year," Huang said. "We weren't prepared to pay that type of money for her to play."
While some fans may regret the loss of such high profile players, this year's Amway Cup will feature attractive and talented Asian players such as up-and-coming South Korean challenger Kim Ga-young and China's Pan Xiaoting.
Taiwanese gymnast Tang Chia-hung on Sunday topped the men’s horizontal bar event at the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) World Cup in Osijek, Croatia, scoring 15.233 to take his third title this season. Tang delivered an outstanding performance in the final, earning a difficulty score of 6.500 and an execution score of 8.633 with a 0.1 stick bonus. His closest competitor was Milad Karimi of Kazakhstan, who finished second with 14.933 points. It was Tang’s third gold medal in the FIG World Cup series this year, following his horizontal bar wins in Azerbaijan on March 8, and in Turkey on March
The Daredevils yesterday took eight catches in the final as they eked out a victory in the Taiwan Cricket Triangular Tournament against PCCT at Yingfeng Cricket Ground in Taipei’s Songshan District. PCCT’s batting lineup collapsed after they asked the Daredevils to bowl in the T20 decider of the weekend tournament that also involved the Formosa Cricket Club. PCCT were bundled out for 76 in 16.2 overs against a disciplined Daredevils attack. Ninad Malwade was the top scorer in the innings with 21, but he was among those who offered chances to the fielders. Shane Ferreira and Jason Cameron took three wickets each, with
This year’s Taiwan Athletics Open, which offers Taiwanese athletes an opportunity to compete against their international peers, would be held under a new name after its organizers had earlier announced the event’s cancelation. In a statement issued yesterday, the Chinese Taipei Athletics Association said the competition would still take place on June 6-7 at Banciao Stadium, but under the name “New Taipei City Athletics Open 2026.” The event was given a new name to emphasize its local identity and conform with the international practice of naming World Athletics Tour events after cities, the association said. It said it would soon
Taiwanese shortstop Cheng Tsung-che on Friday made history for the Boston Red Sox’s Triple A affiliate, hitting the Worcester Red Sox’s first cycle, while netting two runs, as they beat fellow Taiwan teammate Stuart Fairchild’s Columbus Clippers. The 24-year-old former Pittsburgh Pirates prospect went 4-4, completing a full cycle, starting with a triple in the second inning off Ryan Webb in the WooSox’s 9-3 victory over the Cleveland Guardians’ Triple A affiliate. He scored in the same inning after teammate Vinny Capra, a fellow former Pirate, grounded out. The Pingtung County native followed that up with a walk in the third, an
RSS