Taiwan took a 2-1 lead over Thailand after winning the doubles match in the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group I clash yesterday.
Chen Ti and Yi Chu-huan defeated Thai brothers Sanchai Ratiwatana and Sonchat Ratiwatana 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.
On Friday Chen beat Weerapat Doakmaiklee 7-6 (7/1), 6-7 (10/12), 6-1, 6-3, but teammate Lee Hsin-han lost to Danai Udomchoke, a gold medalist in last year's Asian Games in Doha, 6-1, 6-1, 6-2.
The reverse singles take place today.
The matches in Taipei were overshadowed by a dispute between Taiwan's No. 1 player Lu Yen-hsun, who was left out of the tie, and the Chinese Taipei Tennis Association.
Lu, ranked 90th, was replaced by world number 1,010 Yi Chu-huan after demanding better protection of players' rights from the association.
Lu's agent said the player's demands had been rejected.
Another top Taiwanese player Wang Yeu-tzuoo, ranked 157th, was forced to withdraw from the matches due to injury.
Meanwhile South Korea took a decisive 3-0 lead over Kazakhstan yesterday and advanced to the second round of the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group 1.
South Korean pair Lee Hyung-taik and Jun Woong-sun trounced Alexey Kedriouk and Dmitry Makeev 6-1, 7-5, 6-2.
On Friday, South Korea's No.1 Lee Hyung-taik, ranked 54th in the world, brushed aside Syrym Abdukhalikov 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 and Jun Woong-sun defeated Kedriouk 6-4, 6-1, 6-4.
South Korea will face the winner of the match between Uzbekistan and India on April 6-8 in the second round.
Leander Paes and Sunil-Kumar Sipaeya kept alive India's hopes of making the second round by beating Uzbekistan's pair yesterday.
The Indian duo beat Farukh Dustov and Denis Istomin 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3 in two hours 53 minutes to reduce the arrears for the visitors to 2-1 in favor of Uzbekistan.
The rubber went with serves until the ninth game, when the visitors broke Istomin's serve to take the opening set in 40 minutes.
The teams traded breaks halfway into the second but the Indian pair again made their greater accuracy count to go two sets up after one hour 17 minutes on court.
However, the hosts, spurred on by the home crowd, refused to surrender and broke Sipaeya's serves in the third and the fourth sets to level the score at two sets all after two hours 21 minutes of playing.
But in the deciding set the Indians were in command again breaking Istomin's serve on two occasions to take the set and the match, while the hosts managed to reply only once on Paes' serve.
On Friday Istomin had given the hosts the lead with a 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 win over Vivek Shokeen in the opening rubber.
Dustov made it 2-0 for Uzbekistan beating Karan Rastogi also in straight sets 6-3, 6-3, 6-4.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping
Taiwan’s Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan on Saturday won the men’s doubles bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, after they were bested by the hosts in their semi-final. The Taiwanese shuttlers lost to China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, who advanced to yesterday’s final against Malaysia’s Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzudin. The Chinese pair outplayed Lee and Yang in straight games. Although the Taiwanese got off to a slow start in the first game, they eventually tied it 14-14, before Liang and Wang went on to blow past them to win 21-17. In the second game, Lee and