The Hualien Probation Cup Basketball Tournament got off to a great start with Elite Talent Exchange of the US topping Kinmen Liquor in a 99-73 trouncing at the Hualien County Sports Complex yesterday morning.
The five-day competition that features an all-star Junior College team from the US called Elite Talent Exchange and all seven of Taiwan’s Super Basketball League (SBL) teams also serves as an exhibition round of play before the SBL season starts in two weeks.
“This is the 11th year that we’ve held the event, and we are all very proud of the city and county of Hualien for making this event possible,” tournament commissioner Lin Yo-chih said on Monday.
His early autumn basketball tournament has become a big draw for fans around the nation to visit the “back garden of Taiwan” on an annual basis.
On the opening day, all eyes were on Kinmen Liquor’s top draft pick Soong Yu-hsuan, whose professional debut was a big hit as he connected with eight of 14 from the field for a team-high 19 points to give the Distillers fans something to talk about.
Though the outcome did not go in his favor, Soong’s encouraging performance brought a big smile to skipper Luo Tien-jin’s face.
Tigers 96, Taiwan Beer 87
The Dacin Tigers also won their first game in this year’s competition by downing Taiwan Beer thanks to an outstanding effort from team icon Tien Lei and newcomer Daniel Northern, whose 37 combined points and 11 rebounds apiece proved too hot to handle.
Pure Youth 102, Bank of Taiwan 67
Pure Youth Construction took care of business in their opener against Bank of Taiwan as the Builders compiled a convincing victory over the Bankers.
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
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