Taiwan shines in Thailand
Taiwan put itself in position for a strong finish in badminton at the World University Games in Thailand yesterday, as it will have representatives in almost all categories of the gold medal matches today.
Cheng Shao-chieh will play for the women's singles gold, Chien Yu-chin and Cheng Wen-hsi will play in the women's doubles, Tsai Chia-hsin and Hsieh Yu-hsing will play in the men's doubles and Fang Chieh-min and Cheng Wen-hsi will play for the mixed doubles gold.
PHOTO: AP
Meanwhile Liao Sheng-hsun earned an automatic bronze medal when he lost his semi-final match in the men's singles.
Judo
In judo, Wang Chin-fang advanced to the finals in the women's 63kg division.
Wang defeated competitors from North Korea, Canada and Belarus to qualify for the gold medal medal match.
Coach Luo You-wei said that Wang had more experience and better skills than her French opponent today and should win handily if everything went as expected.
TENNIS
Vaunted women's tennis duo Chan Yung-jan and Chuang Chia-jung also had little trouble with their South Korean opponents yesterday, easily winning 6-3, 6-2 to advance to the gold medal match today.
BASKETBALL
Taiwan's women's basketball team barely missed a chance to advance to the semi-finals after it was beaten by the US 65-66.
The game was a back-and-forth affair from the outset, as Taiwan came out of the gates strong, led by six points by Lin Chi-wen, to take a 15-6 lead over the US.
But the US came back and held a one-point lead by the end of the first quarter. Taiwan retaliated in the second quarter with more strong play from Lin and Chen Yu-chun to give Taiwan an 11-point lead at halftime.
Taiwan broke down in the second half, at one point going six minutes without scoring a point in the fourth quarter. Taiwan pulled the score even with 1:43 to go with a three-pointer from Wu Min-fang.
The score remained tied until the US went to the foul line with 4.7 seconds to go and scored the one point that would seal its victory.
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