Bring on India! During a week when the absence of Taiwan’s top player Lu Yen-hsun and Kazakhstan’s three top-200 Russian imports threatened to become the main storylines of their Asia/Oceania Zone Group I Davis Cup tie, unheralded Chen Ti had the last laugh.
Playing an unexpected foe who defeated him last year in five sets in a Davis Cup tie in Almaty, Chen returned the favor yesterday, defeating world No. 180 Yuri Schukin 4-6, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (3), 6-1 to give Taiwan an unassailable 3-1 lead in a 4-1 victory over the visitors.
Chen won the deciding point in a 3-2 win over Pakistan in February 2006, but he had never played such an impressive match under pressure against such a high-ranked opponent.
PHOTO: WANG MIN-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES
The victory was a nice birthday present to Wang Yeu-tzuoo, who turned 24 yesterday.
Wang, trying to relaunch his career this weekend after sitting out most of last year, was spared the pressure of a best-of-five set match and defeated world No. 145 Mikhail Kukushkin 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 to complete Taiwan’s 4-1 triumph.
Taiwan needs to win two more ties if it hopes to reach the World Group playoffs, the gateway to the Davis Cup’s top tier, for the first time in history.
It will host India from March 6 to March 8, and a win would pit it against the winner of either Australia or Thailand.
Taiwan entered yesterday needing only to win one of the day’s two reverse singles.
Chen was supposed to play world No. 119 Andrey Golubev in yesterday’s opener, but Kazakhstan went with Schukin instead of Golubev, who was wildly erratic in a straight set loss to Wang on Friday.
For three sets, it appeared to be a good move, as the 29-year-old Schukin’s consistency, angled shots from the baseline and accurate passing shots kept Chen off balance.
Chen seemed to pick up momentum after breaking Schukin at love to take a 4-3 lead in the fourth set, but gave it back three games later when he was broken serving for the set.
Two games later, down 5-6 and serving to stay in the match, Chen faced his biggest test.
An ace that would have put him up 40-30 was overturned by the chair umpire after Schukin complained to the line umpire.
The 25-year-old Taiwanese, who completely lost his cool in a similar situation in the fifth set of his loss to Kukushkin on Friday, this time accepted the call, and prompted by a roar of encouragement from the crowd, defiantly pounded two service winners to clinch the game.
Helped by two unforced errors by Schukin, Chen slammed an overhead and made two winning forays to take a 5-2 lead in the tiebreaker and then sent the crowd into a frenzy with a half volley off a Schukin overhead that trickled over the net out of his stunned opponent’s reach. Two points later, he clinched the tiebreaker with a big serve. Once Chen broke a tiring Schukin in the second game of the final set, victory seemed assured, giving Chen newfound confidence that he could finally rise beyond his career best No. 255 ranking, accomplished in 2005.
■SA TENNIS OPEN
AFP, JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA
Jeremy Chardy shocked Spaniard David Ferrer on Saturday to set up an all-French SA Tennis Open final against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
■MOVISTAR OPEN
AP, VINA DEL MAR, CHILE
Fernando Gonzalez will defend his home title against 2006 champion Jose Acasuso of Argentina in the Movistar Open final.
Top-seeded Gonzalez put away qualifier Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay 6-3, 6-2, while fourth-seeded Acasuso overcame second-seeded Tommy Robredo of Spain 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 in the semi-finals on Saturday.
■ZAGREB INDOORS
AFP, ZAGREB
Marin Cilic and Mario Ancic ensured an all-Croatian final in the Zagreb ATP tournament on Saturday after defeating Viktor Troicki of Serbia and Czech Jan Hernych respectively.
Second-seeded Cilic eased to a 6-2, 7-5 victory while seventh-seeded Ancic beat Hernych 6-7 (4/7), 6-3, 7-6 (11/9).
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