The brainchild of former Taiwan Touch player James Chang evolved to the next level in Taipei yesterday, while premier side the Taipei Hulks returned to their winning ways.
Last year saw the first Touch Threes tournament, pitting teams of just three players against each other. At the Bailing rugby fields in Shilin District this year, it was Fast Four, which allowed a bit more creative play.
The Hulks showed no mercy, taking the men’s and mixed divisions without dropping a game.
Photo: Grant Dexter, Taipei Times
Their mixed side romped through the preliminary rounds, notching 22 touchdowns and conceding only three. They faced Ya-Hui’s Heroes in the final and won 6-2.
The men’s team also faced little threat in any of their games, winning all of their games by five points.
They took out the Coconut Boyz 8-3 in the final.
The closest game of the day in the men’s draw saw Ya-Hui’s Heroes overcome a two-point deficit, scoring with the last play to take a 6-5 win over Galaxy Giesen.
It was a tough day out for all three Galaxy sides on display — Giesen won their opener against the Silver Sausages, but folded badly against the Hulks before the close loss put them out of contention.
In the mixed draw, Galaxy Simuolive picked up a win against fellow Galaxians, M&T Creative Marketing, but also suffered a last-gasp loss to Ya-Hui’s Heroes, going down 4-3.
The event was the last before Taipei Touch Association treasurer Trent Prestegar heads to China to take up a new job after nine years in Taiwan.
Outside of work, he said it was a great opportunity for him to advance his participation in the game — organizing events, and advancing his skills as a referee and player — as China’s national development squad is based in the city and Rachel Grantham, who works for the Asia Coaching Commission for world governing body Federation of International Touch, is just two hours away in Hong Kong.
“It’s been great in Taiwan learning the game,” Prestegar said, adding that he had never played before moving to Taipei three years ago. “There have been great opportunities, getting referee’s qualifications, and coaching and playing.”
Prestegar was sure it would not be long before he would be seeing the Taipei teams again.
“Everybody says: ‘Goodbye,’ but it’s more like: ‘See you later,’” he said, laying out the challenge that he might return with a team behind him, perhaps to challenge the “Hulk smash.”
TOOTHLESS: Bologna never looked like finding a way back, and Antonio Conte and his substitutes were waiting to celebrate long before the final whistle SSC Napoli on Monday lifted the Italian Supercoppa with a 2-0 win over Bologna in Riyadh, David Neres netting both goals to earn the league champions a deserved victory over the toothless Coppa Italia winners. Neres opened the scoring with a stunning strike from distance six minutes before halftime and found the net again in the 57th minute when Bologna were caught trying to play out of defense. “We came here as champions of Italy, we wanted this trophy and we showed it with a great performance,” Napoli forward Matteo Politano told Mediaset. “We could have scored a few more goals, but
Backup quarterback Luke Weaver on Wednesday night threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Nick Cenacle with 10 seconds left, as the University of Hawaii rallied for a 35-31 comeback victory over the University of California, Berkeley in a thrilling Hawaii Bowl. Weaver entered the game after Micah Alejado took a hard hit on the previous play. With the Rainbow Warriors (9-4) in range for a tying field goal, coach Timmy Chang took a shot at the end zone, and Cenacle got between two defensive backs and made the contested catch. “How amazing is that?” Chang said. “It’s a program that is built
Hosts Morocco on Friday were held to a 1-1 draw by Mali at the Africa Cup of Nations, ending their world record run of wins and leaving them still to make sure of progress to the next stage. Midfielder Brahim Diaz tucked away a penalty in stoppage-time at the end of the first half, but Mali equalized from the spot midway through the second half through Lassine Sinayoko. Both penalties were awarded after video reviews in a tempestuous clash at the end of a busy day of action at the tournament. Morocco were atop the Group A standings with four points, while Zambia,
An astounding 20 wickets fell on a frantic first day of the fourth Ashes Test yesterday, with Australia all out for 152 before storming back to dismiss England for 110 and leave the clash on a knife-edge. England skipper Ben Stokes won a key toss on a green track and his quicks feasted after sending in the hosts under overcast skies in front of 94,199 fans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. It was the biggest cricket crowd ever at the cavernous arena, exceeding the 93,013 who watched the 2015 World Cup final, and they witnessed the home side collapse with Josh Tongue
RSS