Playing in one of their best outings of the tournament, Taiwan took a 50-40 lead at the half and held off a tenacious rally by the US to garner a 96-86 win in the semi-finals of this year’s William Jones Cup International Basketball Tournament at the University of Taipei Gymnasium in Tianmu last night.
The win not only gave the hosts a much-needed confidence boost following Friday night’s tough loss to South Korea in the final game of the preliminaries, but also sent them into tonight’s title game in a rematch against South Korea for a first chance to win the title in 10 years.
Ten quick points by Chang Tsung-hsien in the opening quarter helped the hosts establish a 21-13 lead after the first 10 minutes of play. The speedy guard would go on to score 26 points in a gutsy performance, with several clutch baskets in the decisive fourth to make his country proud.
After another solid quarter of play by Taiwan that upped their lead to 10 at the half, the diehard US began to fight back from as many as 13 down to pull within five, with Marquin Chandler and Jermaine Dailey leading the way.
However, with the game on the line, it was Taiwan who had the last laugh as Chang took it strong to the hoop on several key drives in a 13-point fourth quarter to deny the visitors any chance of a comeback.
TAIWAN TEAM B 97, IRAN 92
Proving that their win over Iran in the preliminaries was no fluke, Taiwan’s Team B rallied from a first-half deficit with a dominating third quarter to top the Persian visitors in a 97-92 final in the consolation rounds yesterday afternoon for a chance to close out the tournament with a fifth-place finish.
Chen Ying-chun had a career day for the young Islanders with a tournament-high 33 points to carry his team past the defending champs. The former Neng Ren High School standout shot an amazing 12-for-15 from the field, including three threes to wow the Iranians.
Five players scored in double-digits for Taiwan, while Iran placed only two with 10 points or more.
SOUTH KOREA 73, EGYPT 64
South Korea outscored Egypt 22-7 in the decisive fourth quarter to run away with a 73-64 win in the other semi-final game for a chance to take on Taiwan in tonight’s title game.
Newly naturalized Ricardo Ratliffe netted a game-high 27 points to account for more than one-third of his team’s total offense.
JAPAN 80, JORDAN 64
Previously winless Japan pulled off a major upset against Jordan in the consolation round with a strong first half and held on to win it by a windfall in an 80-64 final.
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
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
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
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
RSS