Day 2 of the 2012 Hualien Probation Cup Basketball Tournament continued with the Taiwan Mobile Leopards topping Bank of Taiwan in a 79-69 victory at the Hualien County Sports Complex yesterday afternoon, as the Leopards took their second straight game in as many days to take their record to a perfect 2-0.
The addition of big-name stars paid immediate dividends for skipper Chia Fan of the Leopards, as the mobile communications tycoon won with a lineup that can rival the best in the league by acquiring the services of national players Wu Dai-hao, Ho Sho-cheng, Wu Yong-ren, Cheng Ren-wei and Chen Shih-nian.
“Having some impact players on the team definitely made it much easier to win,” Chia said of his brand-new squad following Tuesday night’s big win over the Yulon Luxgens in the opener.
The Bankers still put up a good fight, playing the Leopards tough for more than 30 minutes, and led Taiwan Mobile briefly in the fourth quarter before faltering in the end with newcomer Colby Batiste of the US shining in a Banker’s uniform by racking up a double-double (18 points and 12 rebounds) for head coach Wei Chen-ming.
Luxgens 68, Pure Youth 95
Trouble continued for the Yulon Luxgens as they suffered their second defeat in a row by dropping a 95-68 decision to Pure Youth Constructions to remain winless.
It was the second straight game that the four-time SBL champs were held to under 70 points, further exposing their age and lack-of-depth problems.
In other play yesterday, it was:
‧ USA 95, Taiwan Beer 85
‧ Tigers 88, Kinmen Liquor 78
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