GOLF
Tseng commits to Melbourne
Golf Australia says world No. 1 Yani Tseng from Taiwan will defend her Australian Open title at Royal Melbourne in February. Tseng has committed to the Feb. 9 to Feb. 12 championship, setting up a contest with Australia’s Karrie Webb, who will attempt to win the Open for the fifth time. The women’s Open will be played for the first time on Royal Melbourne’s composite layout, ranked among the best courses in the world. Tseng won the Open for the past two years at Melbourne’s nearby Commonwealth course.
BASEBALL
Taiwan team advances
The team representing Taiwan at the Asian AAA (under-18) Baseball Championship advanced to the semi-finals on Tuesday, despite losing to Japan earlier in the day. The team from Taoyuan County lost to Japan 1-3, but will compete in the semi-finals against South Korea because of its two earlier wins in the preliminary round of the competition. The other semi-final will see Japan take on the Philippines. Taiwan trounced Pakistan 33-0 and Hong Kong 14-0 on Aug. 28 and Aug. 29 in the preliminary round of the tournament, now in its ninth year, which is taking place in Japan’s Kanagawa Prefecture. The tournament, which attracted eight participating teams this year, is a biennial event organized by the Baseball Federation of Asia for players aged 18 years old and under. Taiwan hosted the championship in 2001 and seized the title for the first time. It won again in 2007 and South Korea took the championship in 2009.
CYCLING
Official visits injured cyclist
Taiwanese representative to France Michel Lu on Monday visited a Taiwanese cyclist who was recuperating in a Normandy hospital after sustaining a head injury in a cycling event earlier this month. Chang Kuo-yen, one of 63 Taiwanese cyclists who took part in the 1,200km Paris-Brest-Paris race, sustained the injury on Aug. 22, one day after the race started, and has been undergoing treatment at a hospital in Caen since then. Lu, who recently returned from Taipei to France, said Chang’s doctor had told him that Chang had sustained a serious head injury before being brought to the hospital and that doctors could not examined his brain until he regained full consciousness. Lu expressed gratitude to a Taiwanese group in Normandy that is helping Chang’s girlfriend, who is staying in France to take care of the injured cyclist. The rest of the cyclists have returned to Taiwan after finishing the Aug. 21 to Aug. 25 race.
DANCE
Argentines win tango prize
A couple from Argentina salvaged hometown honor on Tuesday night by winning the “stage tango” category on the closing day of the World Tango Championships in Buenos Aires. Max Van de Voorde and Solange Acosta won out over 19 other couples who illustrated the international reach of the annual competition, coming from such nations as Uruguay, Colombia, Venezuela, Paraguay, Japan and Greece. “This is a surprise. Our goal was simply to reach the final, since last year we couldn’t qualify,” Van de Voorde said. “So it came as a gift. We can’t believe it.” It was a happy night for Argentines. Couples from Argentina won the top four spots in the creative “stage tango,” a day after a Colombian couple won the more traditional “salon tango” category. Van de Voorde and Acosta won a US$7,500 prize, two trips to dance in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris and a contract for a two-month dancing tour of Japan.
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
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was