Taiwan’s top female pool stars are seeking to keep the trophy at home when the Amway eSpring International Women’s Nine-Ball Championships begin today in Taipei.
Formerly known as the Amway Cup, organizers and sponsors of the tournament have set up an exhibition and invited special guests to celebrate the event’s 20-year anniversary.
It is among the top events in the women’s circuit and is sanctioned by the World Pool-Billiard Assocation (WPA),
the international governing body of pocket-billiard sports, as well as the Asian Pocket Billiard Union.
Most of the world’s top-ranked female players, along with several former tournament winners, are to play at the event, organizers said at a news conference.
The competitors are divided into eight groups for the round-robin stage and the games follow WPA nine-ball rules and the “three-ball break” rule.
The finals are to be played on Sunday.
The event is cohosted by the Taipei Department of Sports and the Chinese Taipei Billiards Association, with all games to be played at the Taipei Gymnasium next to the Taipei Arena.
British star Allison Fisher, a former World No. 1, won the inaugural Amway Cup in 1998 and is the most successful player at this year’s event, winning the title five times.
“It brought back many wonderful memories to see this special retrospective exhibition, for those early years when I won the championship a few times, and helped to build upon that success,” Fisher said, “I was just starting my career at the time, and it was a great experience coming to Taiwan to play in front of a new audience.”
“I love playing in this tournament. I like the format and the way it is organized, and also can meet people from many different cultures,” she said.
“We have made good friends with other players, even though we are competitors at the games,” she said.
Taiwan is represented by Chou Chieh-yu, who won the title in 2009 and 2012; Lin Yuan-chun, who won the title in 2008 and 2015; and 2004 winner Liu Shin-mei.
While British star Jack Draper spent the past week trying to find rhythm and comfort in his first grass tournament of the season at the Queen’s Club Championships in London, Jiri Lehecka on Saturday bulldozed everything in his path. After more than two furious hours of battle, their form was reflected in the final scoreline as Lehecka toppled a frustrated Draper, the second seed, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 to reach the biggest final of his career, against Carlos Alcaraz. Lehecka is also the first Czech to reach the men’s title match at Queen’s since Ivan Lendl lifted the trophy in 1990. Draper, who
Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka staged a “crazy comeback,” saving four match points before beating Elena Rybakina 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (6) in the quarter-finals of the Berlin Open on Friday. Sabalenka was 6-2 down in the final-set tie-breaker, but won six straight points to reach her eighth semi-final of the season. “Elena is a great player and we’ve had a lot of tough battles,” Sabalenka said. “I have no idea how I was able to win those last points. I think I just got lucky.” “I remember a long time ago when I was just starting, I won a lot of matches being down
The Canterbury Crusaders edged the Waikato Chiefs 16-12 in an intense Super Rugby Pacific final battle in Christchurch yesterday to claim their 15th title in 30 years of the Southern Hemisphere competition. Hooker Codie Taylor scored a try and Rivez Reihana contributed 11 points from the kicking tee as the most dominant team in Super Rugby history extended their perfect home playoff record to 32 successive matches since 1998. The Chiefs, who were looking for a first title since 2013, scored first-half tries through George Dyer and Shaun Stevenson, but were unable to register a point after the break and fell to
REUNION: Former Barcelona players Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba and Miami coach Javier Mascherano are to face their former coach Luis Enrique Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi faces a tantalizing reunion with former club Paris Saint-Germain in the FIFA Club World Cup last 16 after both sides on Monday progressed to the knockout phase. Miami drew 2-2 with Palmeiras to go through second in Group A, after the Brazilian side fought back from two goals down to seal top spot. They now face an all-Brazil clash against Botafogo, who lost 1-0 to Atletico Madrid, but progressed from Group B in second at the expense of the Spaniards. Champions of Europe PSG won the group with a 2-0 victory over Seattle Sounders, paving the