The Taiwanese women’s soccer team yesterday kicked off their Taipei Summer Universiade campaign on a winning note on the opening day of play, with forward Chen Yen-ping scoring a brace to lead the hosts to a 3-0 victory over Argentina.
The team, commonly known as “Mulan” in Taiwan, got off to a flying start three minutes into the match, when Chen intercepted a pass deep in Argentina’s defensive zone and dashed into the box to slot it home with a low shot past Argentina goalkeeper Gabriela Garton.
The early lead provided a boost of confidence for the team throughout the first half.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
Mulan’s Japanese manager Masayuki Nagira moved Chen up from her normal attacking midfielder role into the forward position against Argentina, where she and her teammates launched repeated forays into the box.
Chen almost doubled the lead during a run from deep in the 39th minute, but just missed the ball on a sliding attempt on a low cross into the box.
In the second half, Michelle Pao swung a cross from the left, which striker Lee Hsiu-chin headed in for the second goal.
Six minutes later, Chen took a long pass from midfield and evaded Argentina’s defense to beat Garton for Taiwan’s third goal.
The score went unchanged until the end, leaving Mulan and local fans celebrating a well-deserved triumph over Argentina, a win for Taiwan on the Universiade’s first day of competition.
In a post-game interview, Chen said she was very happy with her performance, adding that after having been plagued with injuries since last year, many had wondered if she had lost her scoring touch.
“I had to work hard to recover from the injuries, and also received great support and encouragement from many people. I want to thank my family, the coaches and my teammates for having faith in me and for helping the team get this very important victory,” Chen said.
“We made adjustments for our first opponent in the preliminary round, keeping the pressure on Argentina’s player to force turnovers,” she said. “The first goal was the result of us forcing them into committing an error, and it gave us a strong boost for the rest of the game.”
“The players put up an excellent effort; I am pleased with their performance,” Nagira said. “It is especially satisfying for the defense to play so well, keeping a clean sheet against Argentina.”
In other women’s soccer games yesterday, South Africa defeated the UK 3-1 in the morning match, while Brazil trounced Colombia 17-0 in a lopsided afternoon contest between the two South American rivals.
Brazil strikers Carla Pereira and Nathane Cadorini each scored four times, while midfielder Giovanna de Oliveira’s hat-trick helped seal Brazil’s opening-day win.
An afternoon match between Mexico and Ireland ended in a goalless draw.
Forwards Kim Seong-mi and Son Hwa-yeon scored a goal each, while second-half replacement striker Han Chae-rin also scored as South Korea shut out the US 3-0 later yesterday.
The men’s team did not fare as well against Mexico in the evening, losing 3-0.
Mexico captain Patricio Tripp opened the scoring in the eighth minute, with Manuel Pena and Kevin Quintana adding goals in the second half for the visitors.
Elsewhere, Russia upset Brazil with a shock 3-2 victory, while Italy shut out the US 2-0 and Ireland fought to a goalless draw with France.
In men’s water polo, hopeful local fans gave their boisterous support for the national team, but South Korea proved too powerful.
South Korea dominated in the pool to thrash the hosts 17-4, while France blew away the UK 17-5 in the other morning contest.
Later, the Netherlands prevailed over Italy 8-6, while Australia defeated Argentina 13-6, Hungary were victorious over Canada 17-3, Serbia clobbered South Africa 13-1, Japan edged the US 9-8 and Russia rolled over Romania 14-5.
In women’s water polo, Canada defeated New Zealand 15-4, Hungary beat Japan 17-6 and Russia crushed the UK 25-5.
Taiwanese world No. 1 women’s doubles star Hsieh Su-wei on Saturday overcame a first-set loss to win her opening match at the Madrid Open. Top seeds Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium, with whom she last month won her fourth Indian Wells women’s doubles title, bounced back from a rocky first set to beat Asia Muhammad of the US and Aldila Sutjiadi of Indonesia 2-6, 6-4, 10-2. Hsieh and Mertens were next to face Heather Watson of the UK and Xu Yifan of China in the round of 16. Thirty-eight-year-old Hsieh last month reclaimed her world No. 1 spot after her Indian
EYES ON THE PRIZE: Armed with three solid men’s singles shuttlers and doubles Olympic champions, Taiwan aim to make their first Thomas Cup semi-final, Chou Tien-chen said Taiwanese badminton star Tai Tzu-ying yesterday quickly dispatched Malaysia’s Goh Jin Wei in straight sets, while her male counterpart Chou Tien-chen beat Germany’s Kai Schaefer, as Taiwan’s women’s and men’s teams won their Group B opening rounds of the TotalEnergies BWF Thomas and Uber Cup Finals in Chengdu, China. World No. 5 Tai beat Goh 21-19, 22-20 in a speedy 33 minutes, her fourth straight victory over the world No. 24 shuttler since they first faced each other in the quarter-finals of the 2018 Malaysia Open, where Tai went on to win the women’s singles title. Malaysia followed up Tai’s opening victory
Chen Yi-tung (陳奕通) secured a historic Olympic berth on Sunday by winning the senior men’s foil event at the 2024 Asia Oceania Zonal Olympic Fencing Qualifiers in United Arab Emirates. Chen defeated Samuel Elijah of Singapore 15-4 in the final in Dubai to secure the only wild card in the event, making him the first male Olympian fencer from Taiwan in 36 years and only the sixth Taiwanese fencer to ever qualify for the quadrennial event. The last appearance by a Taiwanese male fencer at the Olympics was in 1988, when Wang San-tsai (王三財) and Cheng Ming-hsiang (鄭明祥) competed in Seoul. The
Rafael Nadal on Tuesday lost in straight sets to 31st-ranked Jiri Lehecka in the fourth round at the Madrid Open, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced to the semi-finals in the women’s doubles. Nadal said that he was feeling good about his progress following his latest injury layoff. Nadal called it a “positive week” in every way and said his body held up well. “I was able to play four matches, a couple of tough matches,” Nadal said. “So very positive, winning three matches, playing four matches at the high level of tennis. I enjoyed a lot playing at home. I leave here with