Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced to the quarter-finals of the singles at the Japan Open yesterday, while the Chan sisters booked a spot in the semi-finals of the doubles.
Hsieh defeated familiar foe Kurumi Nara 6-2, 6-4 in 1 hour 11 minutes at the Ariake Colosseum in Tokyo.
The Taiwanese world No. 113 now has a 5-1 career record against the Japanese world No. 78, her only loss their previous meeting in Rio de Janeiro last year.
Screen grab from Facebook
Hsieh saved three of four break points and converted four of seven, winning 65 of the 112 points contested to set up a quarter-final against world No. 84 Magda Linette of Poland, who upset second seed Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan 6-2, 7-5 earlier on Center Court.
Linette’s victory left Madison Brengle of the US as the highest-ranked player at the tournament, although the world No. 42 faces a tricky test in the last eight today against Croatia’s Ajla Tomljanovic.
In other second-round singles results, Ukraine’s Kateryna Bondarenko beat Australian Jarmila Gajdosova 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 in a seesaw match, while there was joy for China too, with Zheng Saisai brushing aside Irina Falconi of the US 6-4, 6-2 in the late match.
In the doubles, top seeds Chan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan resumed their rain-delayed quarterfinal against Diyas and Nicole Melichar of the US leading 3-1 and spent just 40 minutes completing a 6-1, 6-3 victory.
The Taiwanese sisters saved all three break points they faced and converted four of eight, winning 55 of the 88 points contested to advance to a clash with Ukrainian duo Bondarenko and Olga Savchuk today after second seeds Chuang Chia-jung of Taiwan and Liang Chen of China take on Japanese pairing Misaki Doi and Nara in the other semi-final.
“I don’t remember the moment, but ever since I was a kid, that’s the first thing I loved,” two-time NBA All-Star Isaiah Thomas said of his lifelong romance with basketball. However, that journey unfolded against the limitations of his size in a game where height often dictates opportunity — a reality he confronted throughout his career. At 175cm, Thomas is less than 2cm taller than the average Taiwanese adult male, while NBA players during his career stood at about 200cm on average. Compared with the NBA’s average career length of less than five years, Thomas’ 13-season career stands out as
Hans Niemann declares he would become a “stone cold killer” in a Netflix documentary released on Tuesday about his feud with five-time classical world champion Magnus Carlsen, a pledge that injects new edge into the lingering fallout from the cheating scandal that shook elite chess. “I’m gonna be a stone cold killer the rest of my life,” the US’ Niemann says in the film. “I’m going to become the best player in the world, and no one is going to believe that now, but this clip will play over and over again in 10 years — just wait.” “I just
Dakar and Rabat have longstanding ties, but relations have been strained since the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) final, which Senegal won in mid-January before being stripped of the title, which was transferred to Morocco. Now, the AFCON trophy is something of a thorn in the two countries’ sides. On Rue Mohamed V, the street where Moroccan vendors are based in the Senegalese capital, a police van is parked. “The police have been on high alert since the Confederation of African Football [CAF] decided to award the title to Morocco, but there have been no incidents,” a local resident said.
Taiwanese “boxing queen” Chen Nien-chin today won the women’s 65kg division final at the Asian Boxing Elite Championships in Ulaanbaatar, securing Taiwan’s first gold medal in that weight class at the tournament. Chen defeated North Korea’s Hwang Hyo Sun 4-1, after the two were tied through the first two rounds. Chen won bronze in the 66kg division at the Paris Olympics in 2024.