The much anticipated 35th William Jones Cup International Basketball Tournament begins at the Xinzhuang Gymnasium in New Taipei City on July 6 with the hosts looking to make a serious run for a top-three finish against some tough international opponents.
The annual mid-summer basketball classic that began in Taipei 34 years ago to promote the sport will feature two local teams, the Taiwan national team and Team Kuang-hua, which is made up of mostly college and second-tier Super Basketball League (SBL) players, as well as Egypt, Iran, Japan, Jordan, Lebanon, South Korea and the US in a nine-day competition to be played in a round-robin format.
Due to the conflict between Taiwan and the Philippines sparked by the shooting of a Taiwanese fisherman, the defending champions from Manila were not invited to this year’s competition.
Photo: Tsao Chia-ping, Taipei Times
No medal rounds are scheduled in this year’s competition as the final standings will be based strictly on the results of the round-robin games with a set of tiebreaking rules in place in case teams finish with identical records.
Looking to improve upon their second straight fourth-placed finish in the tournament las year, the Taiwan national team will be led by Pure Youth Construction skipper Hsu Jin-tseh, who led the Builders to back-to-back titles in the SBL for the first time last season.
Hsu will have a very different lineup to work with in preparation for the upcoming Asian Championship in the Philippines in August compared with past seasons, with recently naturalized center Quincy Davis (formerly of the US) leading a crew that includes center Tseng Wen-ding, scoring threat and captain Lin “the Beast” Chih-jeh, as well as Chang Tsong-hsien and Lee Hsueh-lin — the projected starting five.
Other than the US, the remaining six visiting countries are sending their national team to this year’s tournament as they look to “test the water” against the other Asian teams in preparation for the Asian Championship.
“We’ve practiced very hard for [the William Jones Cup] and we will take the opportunity to tune our team for the upcoming Asian Championship,” Hsu said at a pre-tournament press conference in New Taipei City yesterday afternoon.
FRUSTRATION: Alcaraz made several unforced errors over four sets against Bosnian Damir Dzumhur, who had never made it past the third round in a major competition Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz reached the fourth round of the French Open after laboring past Damir Dzumhur 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in the Friday night session. The second-seeded Spaniard had never before played Dzumhur, a 33-year-old Bosnian who had never been past the third round at any major tournament. “I suffered quite a lot today,” Alcaraz said. “The first two sets was under control, then he started to play more deeply and more aggressively. It was really difficult for me.” Dzumhur hurt his left knee in a fall in the second round, and had treatment on Friday on his right leg during the
‘DREAM’: The 5-0 victory was PSG’s first Champions League title, and the biggest final win by any team in the 70-year history of the top-flight European competition Paris Saint-Germain won the Champions League for the first time as Luis Enrique’s brilliant young side outclassed Inter on Saturday in the most one-sided final ever with teenager Desire Doue scoring twice in an astonishing 5-0 victory. Doue supplied the pass for Achraf Hakimi to give PSG an early lead and the 19-year-old went from provider to finisher as his deflected shot doubled the advantage in the 20th minute. Doue scored again just after the hour mark, ending any doubt about the outcome before Khvicha Kvaratskhelia ran away to get the fourth and substitute Senny Mayulu, another teenager, made it five. Inter were
The Greek basketball league finals between Panathinaikos and Olympiakos were suspended by the government on Monday following on-court scuffles involving rival security teams. The best-of-five series is at 1-1. The third game, scheduled for today, has been postponed. The owners of both clubs were summoned to meet with the country’s sports minister. They “will be asked to provide explicit guarantees that this situation will be brought to an end. If not, this year’s championship will be definitively canceled,” government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said. “There can be no tolerance for such pathological phenomena of violence and delinquency.” In online posts, the owners of Panathinaikos and
Defender Steph Catley says her UEFA Women’s Champions League title win with Arsenal last week will act as motivation to secure continental glory with Australia when the country hosts the Women’s Asian Cup next year. Catley and compatriots Caitlin Foord and Kyra Cooney-Cross were part of the Arsenal squad that defeated Barcelona in Lisbon on Sunday last week, before flying to Melbourne to feature in the Matildas’ 2-0 win over Argentina on Friday. The game was the first in a two-match series against the South Americans as the Australians continue preparations for the continental championship in March next year, when they would
RSS