Taiwanese teenager Liang En-shou yesterday crashed out of the quarter-finals of the singles at the Taipei OEC Open, then returned to the court and suffered a narrow defeat in the quarter-finals of the doubles.
Germany’s Sabine Lisicki proved too strong for the 18-year-old as she swept to a 6-4, 6-0 victory in just 49 minutes at the Taipei Arena.
Lisicki, ranked world No. 262, but who has been as high as world No. 12 in 2012, took advantage of Liang’s nine double faults by saving two of three break points and converting five of nine, winning 60 of the 96 points contested.
Liang returned in the final match of the day alongside fellow Taiwanese Lee Ya-hsuan, but the home crowd’s last hope of a Taiwanese triumph this weekend evaporated when they fell to a 4-6, 6-4, 10-8 loss to Indian duo Ankita Raina and Karman Thandi in 1 hour, 24 minutes.
The Indians face third seeds Misaki Doi of Japan and Danka Kovinic of Montenegro in the semi-finals after they defeated Junri Namigata of Japan and Peangtarn Plipuech of Thailand 6-3, 6-3 in the earlier quarter-final.
In yesterday’s other singles quarter-finals, second seed Luksika Kumkhum advanced to the semi-finals with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Japanese fifth seed Nao Hibino in 57 minutes.
The Thai world No. 81 faced only one break point and converted five of 11, winning 60 of the 95 points contested to improve her career record against Hibino to 2-1.
The second seed faces world No. 211 Bibiane Schoofs after the unseeded Dutch player advanced when her Czech opponent Tereza Martincova had to retire trailing 7-6 (7/3), 3-0 after 56 minutes.
Russian sixth seed Vitalia Diatchenko cruised into the semi-finals with crushing 6-1, 6-0 defeat of Chinese fourth seed Zhu Lin in just 45 minutes.
The world No. 132 did not face a single break point and converted five of nine, winning 52 of the 75 points contested to even her career record with Zhu to 1-1.
The sixth seed faces Lisicki in today’s semi-finals.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two