Taiwan’s Lee Ya-hsuan and Liang En-shou yesterday stunned top seeds Nao Hibino of Japan and Oksana Kalashnikova of Georgia in the first round of the doubles at the Taipei OEC Open, while English-Taiwanese teenager Joanna Garland crashed out in the first round of the singles.
Lee and 18-year-old Liang, who won the girls’ singles at the Australian Open in January, took just 63 minutes to complete a comprehensive 6-4, 6-2 victory over the favorites at the Taipei Arena.
The Taiwanese duo saved 11 of 13 break points and converted five of eight, winning 60 of the 110 points contested, despite sending down four double faults.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
In the quarter-finals, Lee and Liang face either Lizette Cabrera of Australia and Elena-Gabriela Ruse or Indian pairing Ankita Raina and Karman Thandi, who are due to play their first-round match today.
Also advancing to the quarter-finals were third seeds Misaki Doi of Japan and Danka Kovinic of Montenegro; Magdalena Frech of Poland and Bibiane Schoofs of the Netherlands; and Japanese duo Momoko Kobori and Ayano Shimizu.
In the first round of the singles, 17-year-old Garland — who reached the third round of the girls’ singles at Wimbledon in July, before claiming the doubles title with Taiwan’s Lee Hua-chen at an ITF tournament in Taipei later the same month — fell to a 6-4, 6-2 defeat to Cabrera in 1 hour, 10 minutes.
The Australian world No. 228 saved two of three break points and converted four of eight, winning 65 of the 113 points contested.
Cabrera next faces Thai second seed Luksika Kumkhum, who defeated Chinese world No. 161 Han Xinyun 6-3, 6-4 in 1 hour, 13 minutes. The world No. 81 saved two of four break points and converted four of nine, winning 67 of the 122 points contested.
Seventh seed Sabrina Sharipova of Uzbekistan crashed out, falling to a 6-0, 6-2 loss to Ivana Jorovic of Serbia in 54 minutes.
Also advancing to the second round were China’s Xun Fangying, South Korea’s Jang Su-jeong and Tereza Martincova of the Czech Republic.
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,
STILL IN THE HUNT: Rasmus Hojlund took his goal tally for SSC Napoli to nine as the champions cruised to a win at US Cremonese and stayed two points behind the leaders Inter on Sunday stayed at the Serie A summit after beating Atalanta BC 1-0 to maintain their slender lead over local rivals AC Milan. Lautaro Martinez netted the only goal of the game in Bergamo for Inter, who lead Milan, 3-0 winners against Hellas Verona thanks to Christoper Nkunku’s first Serie A goals, by a single point at the top of the division. The Argentina striker has scored in four consecutive league matches to end what has been a tricky year in positive style. “I ended last season in a lot of pain... I kept going during the Club World Cup and international
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