South Korea made history yesterday by ending China’s 12-year stranglehold on the Uber Cup with a 3-1 victory that saw China’s world No. 1 Wang Yihan sensationally lose in straight sets.
The South Koreans were expected to buckle under the might of a team that fired a massive 686 points in four ties, finishing victors in every one of their 16 rubbers and winning 32 sets, while conceding just one.
The fans sensed an upset, however, when Bae Seung-hee, ranked 16, out-battled, out-thought and outclassed Wang in the first singles rubber and set the tone for five grueling hours of stunning badminton from the South Koreans.
Bae, who has been impeccable after losing in the group stages, kept her cool to pip Wang 23-21 in a tense first set, before pressuring her opponent into a series of errors to seal the rubber with a 21-11 win at Kuala Lumpur’s Putra Stadium.
The record book favored China, with South Korea unable to beat them in five Uber Cup finals since 1988, and order ought to have been restored by the world’s top doubles team, Ma Jin and Wang Xiaoli. Their opponents, Lee Hyo-jung and Kim Min-jung, however, defied history and held their nerve to win 18-21, 21-12, 21-15.
The wheel spun back towards China when world No. 2 Wang Xin proved too good for South Korea’s Sung Ji-hyun, who crashed 21-14, 16-21, 21-7, but Lee Kyung-won and Ha Jung-eun sealed a thrilling finale and took the cup, beating Du Jing and Yu Yang 19-21, 21-14, 21-19.
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Coco Gauff’s dreams of a first women’s singles title in Melbourne were crushed in the quarter-finals by Paula Badosa. World No. 2 Alexander Zverev was ruffled by a stray feather in his men’s singles quarter-final, but he refocused to beat 12th seed Tommy Paul and reach the semi-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in 2 hours, 20 minutes to advance the semi-finals. Hsieh and Ostapenko converted eight of 14 break
The San Francisco Giants signed 18-year-old Taiwanese pitcher Yang Nien-hsi (陽念希) to a contract worth a total of US$500,000 (NT $16.39 million). At a press event in Taipei on Wednesday, Jan. 22, the Giants’ Pacific Rim Area scout Evan Hsueh (薛奕煌) presented Yang with a Giants jersey to celebrate the signing. The deal consisted of a contract worth US$450,000 plus a US$50,000 scholarship bonus. Yang, who stands at 188 centimeters tall and weighs 85 kilograms, is of Indigenous Amis descent. With his fastest pitch clocking in at 150 kilometers per hour, Yang had been on Hsueh’s radar since playing in the HuaNan Cup
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE: After Coco Gauff dispatched Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, she wrote ‘RIP TikTok USA’ and drew a broken heart on a television camera lens Defending champion Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while compatriot Chan Hao-ching on Saturday dominated her opponents in the second round, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka swept into the quarter-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia toppled Hungary’s Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US 6-4, 6-3, hitting 24 winners and converting three of seven break points in 1 hour, 18 minutes at 1573 Arena. Although rivals at last year’s Australian Open — where Hsieh and Belgium’s Elise Mertens beat Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-1, 7-5
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