Taiwan’s Chan Chin-wei, Chuang Chia-jung and Hsieh Shu-ying were frustrated yesterday after their bids for the Zhonghong Jiangxi International Women’s Open doubles title were put on hold after wind and rain brought by Typhoon Matmo halted proceedings at the WTA Tour 125 tournament in Nanchang, China.
No. 3 seeds Chan and Xu Yi-fan of China won the first set 6-3 against Chinese duo Sun Xu Liu and Zheng Wushuang, and it was 15-15 in the first game of the second when the wind and rain caused all of the matches to be suspended.
Chan and Xu took advantage of a double fault to set up two break points in the fifth game and they converted at the first opportunity. The pairing then broke again in the seventh game, before their opponents fought back to break in the eighth.
Another double fault and some good returns of serve then set up three more break points in the ninth game, and Chan and Xu converted at the first opportunity yet again to claim the first set in a little over 30 minutes.
When play resumed on the indoor courts at 8:30pm, Chan and Xu closed out the contest 6-3, 6-1 in just an hour and are due to face Chinese pairing Liang Chen and Zhu Lin in the quarter-finals.
Chuang and her partner, Junri Namigata of Japan, were due to face fourth seeds Hsieh and Misaki Doi of Japan in the first round later yesterday on the indoor courts.
The winners of the Taiwanese duel next face Italy’s Gioia Barbieri and Marina Melnikova of Russia.
In the singles, one match was completed, with China’s Wang Qiang defeating Noppawan Lertcheewakarn of Thailand 6-1, 7-6 (7/2) in 1 hour, 32 minutes in the second round to set up a quarter-final with either top seed Peng Shuai of China or Ilona Kremen of Belarus.
BAKU CUP
Fifth seed Bojana Jovanovski of Serbia cruised into the quarter-finals of the Baku Cup in Azerbaijan yesterday after a 6-3, 6-1 defeat of Poland’s Katarzyna Piter in the second round.
The world No. 40 and the winner of the tournament in 2012 saved three of five break-point chances and converted six of 11 to complete the victory in just 1 hour, 11 minutes.
Jovanonski faces qualifier Misa Eguchi in the quarter-finals after the Japanese player romped to a 6-2, 6-1 win over Poland’s Urszula Radwanska in 1 hour 13 minutes.
Also yesterday, Israel’s Shahar Peer rallied to defeat qualifier Vesna Dolonc of Serbia 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.
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
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but