Taiwan advanced to the World Group II playoffs of the Fed Cup yesterday by taking all three matches against Thailand to win the Asia/Oceania Zone.
The win marks the best finish in eight years for Taiwan's women tennis players.
Despite missing local stars Chan Yung-jan (詹詠然) and Chuang Chia-jung (莊佳容), who are competing in the US, the Taiwanese squad stepped up and claimed victory in the tournament in commanding fashion.
Thailand had made short work of its opponents in Group A, finishing 4-0 in the round robin by defeating Hong Kong, Singapore, Uzbekistan and South Korea, but fell quickly to the Taiwanese team.
Yesterday's playoff began with a singles match between Chan Chin-wei (詹謹瑋) and Napaporn Tongsalee, which Chan took in straight sets 6-4, 7-5.
Thailand had a chance to even the score in the second match when Tamarine Tanasugarn, ranked 68th in the world, took the first set against Hsieh Shu-wei (謝淑薇) 4-6. But Hsieh settled down to grind out wins in the next two sets 7-5, 6-4 to take the match and clinch Taiwan a place in the world group playoff in July.
The win was also Taiwan's sixth consecutive victory over Thailand in the Fed Cup.
Hwang I-hsuan (黃怡萱) and Hsu Wen-hsin (許文馨) finished off the sweep with a 7-6, 6-2 victory over Montinee Tangphong and Nungnadda Wannasuk.
The last time Taiwan advanced to the World Group II playoffs was in 1999, when Wang En-ting (
However, Taiwan now needs only to beat one other team to automatically qualify for the World Group II tournament next year.
In the International Tennis Federation in the US, Chan Yung-jan rebounded from a dreadful start to beat Julie Ditty 0-6, 6-4, 6-2 and advance to the quarterfinals, where she will play Edina Gallovits of Romania. In the women's doubles, she and Chuang reached the semifinals by defeating Milagros Sequera of of Venezuela and US player Aleke Tsoubanos 6-2, 6-0.
Freddie Freeman homered and drove in four runs, Shohei Ohtani also went deep and Roki Sasaki earned his first major league win as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 10-3 on Saturday night for their seventh straight victory. The Dodgers have won the first two games of the series to improve to 5-0 against Atlanta this year. Los Angeles’ three-game sweep at home early in the season left the Braves 0-7. Sasaki allowed three runs and six hits over five innings. The 23-year-old right-hander gave up a home run to Ozzie Albies, but received plenty of offensive support in his
Bayern Munich on Sunday were crowned German champions for the 34th time, giving striker Harry Kane his first major trophy, after second-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen drew 2-2 at SC Freiburg. Bayern’s 3-3 draw at RB Leipzig on Saturday, when the Bavarians came from two goals down to take the lead before conceding a stoppage-time equalizer, meant defending Bundesliga champions Leverkusen needed to win at Freiburg to delay the title party. Leverkusen were two goals down before scoring twice in the final 10 minutes, but Xabi Alonso’s side could not find a third, as Bayern reclaimed the title at the first attempt after
THRILLER: Raphinha gave Barca a 3-2 lead with two minutes remaining of regular time, but Francesco Acerbi equalized the game in the second minute of added time Davide Frattesi on Tuesday fired Inter into the UEFA Champions League final with an extra-time winner that gave the Italians a stunning 4-3 triumph over Barcelona, 7-6 on aggregate. Italy midfielder Frattesi won a tie for the ages under a downpour in Milan when he lashed home in the 99th minute, sending a packed and rocking San Siro wild with joy. Simone Inzaghi’s team will face either Arsenal or Paris Saint-Germain at the end of this month in Munich, Germany, where they would feel they have a great chance to be crowned kings of Europe for a fourth time after
PAINFUL VICTORY: Ruud said that felt pain in his rib during the warmup and was put on painkillers so that he could finish the match against Argentine Francisco Cerundolo With the help of painkillers, Casper Ruud overcame a rib ailment to defeat Francisco Cerundolo in straight sets and reach the Madrid Open final on Friday. Ruud is to face Jack Draper, who beat Lorenzo Musetti 6-3, 7-6 (4) in the other semi-final to make his third final of the year. Ruud received treatment on his rib three games into the match and went on to win 6-4, 7-5 on the Caja Magica center court. The 15th-ranked Norwegian saved 15 of the 18 break points he faced against the 21st-ranked Argentine. Ruud said he felt something in his rib during the warmup, just before
RSS