Chen Shih-nian’s clutch three-point play with five seconds left turned a two-point deficit into a one-point lead, enabling the Taiwan Mobile Cloud Leopards to beat the top-ranked Pure Youth Construction 67-66 at the University of Taipei’s Tianmu Gymnasium last night and close the three-game weekend with a perfect 3-0 record.
It was the veteran guard’s second-biggest shot in recent years, behind his title-clinching jumper for Taiwan Beer in the closing seconds of Game 6 in the 2007 Championship Finals that gave the Brew Crew their first-ever league title.
“I knew if I could get past [Quincy Davis], I would be able to get the shot off and that is exactly what happened,” Chen said after the game, referring to his game-winner on a strong drive to the hoop that drew the foul against the Builders’ Davis.
The shot banked off the backboard before going in to see the Leopards finally top the Builders for the first time in four tries.
The showdown between the league’s top two clubs lived up to its billing, with the red-hot Leopards grabbing an early lead before the Builders came back with a strong second quarter to end the first half with a 29-26 advantage.
Nine points by hired gun Luke Nevill of Australia kept the Leopards’ deficit to three in the third as the Builders maintained a small lead nearly the entire fourth before Chen’s clincher.
Nevill ended with a game-high 21 points and 12 rebounds to account for a good chunk of the Leopards’ offensive production.
TAIWAN BEER 87, KINMEN LIQUOR 55
Taiwan Beer bounced back from a devastating loss to the Leopards the night before with a convincing trouncing of Kinmen Liquor in the afternoon game at Tianmu.
The win avenged a bitter loss to the Distillers in their last meeting and strengthened the Brew Crews’ grip on the No. 3 spot.
Poor shooting from behind the three-point arc (1-for-18) and at the free-throw line (16-for-33) by the Distillers made the difference as they self-destructed against a tough Taiwan Beer defense.
In the day’s remaining game, the Dacin Tigers edged the Yulon Luxgens 76-72.
‘SU-PENKO’: Hsieh and Ostapenko face a rematch against their Australian Open final opponents, the same duo Hsieh played in last year’s Wimbledon semi-finals Taiwanese women’s doubles star Hsieh Su-wei and Latvian partner Jelena Ostapenko on Wednesday survived a near upset to the unseeded duo of Sorana Cirstea of Romania and Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya, setting up a semi-final showdown against last year’s winners. Despite losing a hard-fought opening set 7-6 (7/4) on a tiebreak, the fourth seeds turned up the heat, losing just five games in the final two sets to handily put down Cirstea and Kalinskaya 6-3, 6-2. Nicknamed “Su-Penko,” the pair are next to face top seeds Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic and Taylor Townsend of the US in a reversal of last
Taiwanese tennis veteran Hsieh Su-wei (謝淑薇) and her Latvian partner Jelena Ostapenko finished runners-up in the Wimbledon women's doubles final yesterday, losing 6-3, 2-6, 4-6. The three-set match against Veronika Kudermetova of Russia and Elise Mertens of Belgium lasted two hours and 23 minutes. The loss denied 39-year-old Hsieh a chance to claim her 10th Grand Slam title. Although the Taiwanese-Latvian duo trailed 1-3 in the opening set, they rallied with two service breaks to take it 6-3. In the second set, Mertens and Kudermetova raced to a 5-1 lead and wrapped it up 6-2 to even the match. In the final set, Hsieh and
Taiwanese tennis veteran Hsieh Su-wei and her Latvian partner, Jelena Ostapenko, advanced to the Wimbledon women’s doubles final on Friday, defeating top seeds Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic and Taylor Townsend of the US in straight sets. The fourth-seeded duo bounced back quickly after losing their opening service game, capitalizing on frequent unforced errors by their opponents to take the first set 7-5. Maintaining their momentum in the second set, Hsieh and Ostapenko broke serve early and held their lead to close out the match 6-4. They are set to face the eighth-seeded pair of Veronika Kudermetova of Russia and Elise Mertens
Outside Anfield, the red sea of tributes to Diogo Jota and his brother, Andre Silva, has continued to grow this week, along with questions over whether Liverpool could play at Preston today, their first game since the brothers’ tragic loss. Inside Anfield, and specifically a grieving Liverpool dressing room, there was no major debate over the pre-season friendly. The English Premier League champions intend to honor their teammate in the best way they know how. It would be only 10 days since the deaths of Jota and Silva when Liverpool appear at Deepdale Stadium for what is certain to be a hugely
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