The OEC Taipei Ladies Open begins in earnest on Monday — following the two-day qualifying tournament that starts today — with home hopes in the singles resting largely on the shoulders of Chang Kai-chen.
Chang will be the highest-ranked Taiwanese player in action at the Taipei Arena following the withdrawal of defending champion Chan Yung-jan and she comes into the tournament on the back of a good run at the WTA event in Osaka earlier this month. She beat world No. 24 Maria Kirilenko in Japan, before falling in the singles quarter-finals to eventual winner Tamarine Tanasugarn. The 19-year-old from Taoyuan did even better in the doubles, teaming up with Lilia Osterloh to claim the title.
Chang, who reached the singles semi-finals in Taipei last year, has been working hard on her fitness in preparation for this year’s tournament.
PHOTO: AFP
A bout of pneumonia left Chan in hospital and although earlier this week doctors said the 21-year-old was on the road to recovery, she needs more time to recuperate to avoid potential complications.
Nevertheless, Chan has managed to practice and said she felt fit enough to play in the doubles as a warm up for the Asian Games, but added that her doctors would assess her condition today before giving her the all-clear.
Chan and fellow Taiwanese Chuang Chia-jung won the doubles competition at last year’s tournament.
Despite Chan’s absence from the singles, fans can take some consolation from the return of 2008 champion Jarmila Groth.
Defending singles champs haven’t fared too well in Taipei — Groth missed last year’s tournament through injury — but she’s back this year and as the highest ranked player and top seed, will be favorite to win again this time round.
It’s been all change for Groth since she was last in Taiwan, as she has married and become an Australian citizen, having won in 2008 as Slovakian Jarmila Gajdosova.
The Aussie No. 2 has had a good year, progressing to the fourth round at Wimbledon, before Venus Williams ended her run. She won first her WTA title last month at the Guangzhou International Women’s Open, defeating Alla Kudryavtseva 6-1, 6-4 and boosting her ranking to a career-high 41 as a result.
The 23-year-old has also won 12 ITF tour singles titles and five doubles titles during her career to date.
Watch out for her big serve and some of her superstitions, like bouncing the ball twice before serving, not walking on the lines of the court and always drinking the same amount of water during changeovers.
Thai veteran Tamarine is another player who can be expected to do well, having reached the last eight in the singles last year, before losing to eventual winner Chan in a three-set thriller.
Another name to watch out for is Indian star Sania Mirza. The 23-year-old from Mumbai has been plagued by injuries of late, but the Commonwealth Games silver medal she won earlier this month may be evidence that the one-time world No. 27 is getting back to her best again.
Other players who could make an impact in the singles are Ayumi Morita of Japan and Australia’s Alicia Molik.
Morita, last year’s losing finalist, should be in a confident mood having won the ITF hardcourt tournament in Tokyo earlier this month.
Molik, 29, is in her first full year back on the circuit after having retired in 2008. The Aussie won an Olympic bronze medal in the singles tournament at the Athens Olympics in 2004, has two Grand Slam doubles titles and was ranked as high as No. 8 in the world in singles in 2005.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite