Taiwan Sports Wrap

DAVIS CUP BACK ON TRACK

Tennis stars Lu Yen-hsun (盧彥勳) and Jimmy Wang (王宇佐) confirmed on Tuesday that they are both ready to represent Taiwan against China in the Davis Cup in Taipei at the beginning of next month.

The announcement follows major personnel changes within the Chinese Taipei Tennis Association and team coaching staff following criticism for incompetence and a spat with Lu over the association's treatment of players.

Lu and Wang insisted that poor communication was to blame for speculation that they were unwilling to play against China because of a lack of patriotism. They said they had always planned to participate in the tournament.

`ASSASSIN' SLAIN

Hsia "The Assassin" Hui-kai (夏揮凱) advanced to the quarter-finals of the World 8-Ball Pool Championship on Tuesday after defeating his German opponent 10-2, but was defeated in that round yesterday.

Wu Chia-ching (吳珈慶), however, has had an even tougher tournament. After losing his first match 2-6, he dropped his second on Tuesday 8-10 and was eliminated from the tournament.

AMIS COACH CLASH CANNED

Bad weather on Tuesday dashed baseball fans' hopes of seeing the much-anticipated match between the Brother Elephants and Sinon Bulls, two teams now led by Aboriginal coaches.

Elephants head coach Wang Kuang-hui (王光輝) and Bulls head coach Huang Chung-yi (黃忠義) both hail from the Amis tribe in Hualien County, and are the first two Aboriginal head coaches in the CPBL.

They said their teams would still play each other several times during the rest of the season. Spring training games were canceled yesterday as well.

WANG GETS SMACKED

Wang Chien-ming (王建民) got roughed up in his second spring training start for the Yankees on Tuesday, giving up five hits and two runs in three innings in the 5-6 loss to the Cleveland Indians.