Taiwan Beer easily handled Bank of Taiwan in a 66-50 final at the Sinjhuang Sports Complex in New Taipei City last night to jumpstart the new year in grand fashion.
Patrick O’Bryant showed off his height (2.13m) and a surprisingly effective perimeter game by connecting from downtown and hitting several mid-range jumpers on a game-high, 23-point night with 13 rebounds to lead the victorious Brew Crew.
It was the fourth-straight contest that the former NBA baller out of Bradley University in the US scored 20 or more points, as he continued to dominate the opposing defense, while holding his ground on defense.
Photo: Courtesy of the SBL
Taiwan Beer opened the game with a 10-3 run over the first three minutes and quickly doubled the advantage to 14 points by the end of the quarter with a 21-7 score.
Even though the Bankers answered with a 10-6 run of their own in the opening minutes of the second quarter to pull within 10 points of the men in their familiar green uniforms, the Brew Crew promptly returned the favor with a 6-0 run before settling for a 33-20 lead at the half.
Another 6-0 run by Taiwan Beer to start the second half gave them their biggest lead at 39-20 three minutes into the third.
The Bankers managed to reduce the lead to nine, with Hsu Chih-chiang leading a 10-0 run midway through the third, but that was as close as they got, as Taiwan Beer came up big with several run-stopping buckets against the Bankers to keep a double-digit cushion the rest of the way.
Poor shot selection, coupled with an inability to secure the defensive glass that led to 20 offensive rebounds for Taiwan Beer, ultimately cost the Bankers the win, as they were simply outplayed and outhustled by the Brew Crew in a game that was over long before the final buzzer.
PURE YOUTH 94, KINMEN LIQUOR
63Sparked by a near-flawless third quarter, the top-ranked Pure Youth Construction roughed up Kinmen Liquor in a 94-63 blowout in the second game in Sinjhuang last night.
The Builders put on 25 points on offense, while holding Kinmen Liquor to eight meager points with a spectacular defense that forced seven turnovers in the decisive third to seal the victory before the fourth quarter even began.
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