The Taiwan Mobile Cloud Leopards fell short by 10 to the Golden Bulls of China’s Zhejiang Chouzhou, dropping an 87-77 decision in the last day of play of this year’s Taiwan Strait Cup at the Sinjhuang Sports Complex in New Taipei City last night to end with a 1-2 record and third place.
Fresh off a big win over Pure Youth Construction the night before to break into the win column, the Cats expected to put up a good fight against the Golden Bulls heading into the battle.
However, a dismal start that saw the visitors opened the contest with a 24-12 lead after one quarter of play quickly changed that line of thought.
Even though the Leopards chipped away at the deficit in an improved second quarter — with Kwame Alexander leading the way — and actually tied the game in the third quarter with several big three-pointers, it did not affect the outcome of the match as the Chinese team showed off their bench depth and better conditioning with a superior fourth quarter to run away with the victory.
Four players scored in double digits for the Golden Bulls, led by Jiang Kai and Wu Chien’s 21 and 20 points respectively, while Alexander’s solid 27-point outing with 13 boards for the Leopards topped all scorers.
PURE YOUTH 74, GOLDEN LIONS 58
Pure Youth Construction avoided being swept in the tournament by topping the Tianjin Ronggang Golden Lions in a 74-58 score in the final game of the three-day competition last night to settle with a 1-2 mark.
Having already claimed the title with a pair of impressive wins earlier, the Lions opened the contest with a rather lethargic start as they trailed the Builders 24-12 after one quarter of play.
Trouble continued for the visitors as they were held to seven meager points in the second quarter, with the Builders dominating on both ends of the floor.
Even though the Lions would play up to their potential with a strong third that saw them outscore the Builders 23-12, it did not stop the three-time defending champs of the SBL from wrapping up the win in a 24-point fourth quarter.
Leading the way for the victorious Builders was newcomer Justin Manns, who racked up 19 points in another solid performance to help his team in a must-win game.
Also starring was Tsai Wen-cheng, who netted 16 with eight rebounds to bounce back from a subpar effort in Saturday night’s loss to the Leopards.
ANFIELD BLUES: Kylian Mbappe arrived at Anfield on a run of 21 goals in 17 games, but he managed just three attempts in the match, none of them hitting the target Kylian Mbappe has been nearly unstoppable this season, but he hit a roadblock in their UEFA Champions League match at Anfield on Tuesday. For the second year running, the Real Madrid forward had a night to forget at Merseyside as Liverpool won 1-0. Mbappe looked a shadow of the player who has been tearing defenses apart all season. “We were lacking that threat in the final third,” said Madrid coach Xabi Alonso, without naming Mbappe individually. The FIFA World Cup winner for France rarely looked capable of finding a breakthrough against a Liverpool team who have been so defensively fragile for much of the
LOCAL SUCCESS: In the doubles, Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in straight sets Elena Rybakina on Monday punched her ticket to the WTA Finals last four with an impressive 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 victory over second seed Iga Swiatek in round-robin play in Riyadh. After cruising past Amanda Anisimova in her opener on Saturday, Rybakina claimed her second win of the week to guarantee herself top spot in the Serena Williams Group. Anisimova on Monday rallied back from a set and a break down to triumph 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in her all-American battle with seventh seed Madison Keys, who has been eliminated from the competition. “Madi was playing so well, it was quite a battle out there,”
For almost 30 minutes, Vitomir Maricic did not take a breath. Face down in a pool, surrounded by anxious onlookers, the Croatian freediver fought spasming pain to redefine what doctors thought was possible. When he finally surfaced, he had smashed the previous Guinness World Record for the longest breath-hold underwater by nearly five minutes. However, even with the help of pure oxygen before the attempt, it had pushed him to the limit. “Everything was difficult, just overwhelming,” Maricic, 40, told reporters, reflecting on the record-breaking day on June 14. “When I dive, I completely disconnect from everything, as if I’m not even there.
An amateur soccer league organized by farmers, students and factory workers in rural China has unexpectedly drawn millions of fans and inspired big cities to form their own, raising hopes China can grow talent from the ground up and finally become a global force. The nation of 1.4 billion people has about 200 million soccer fans, more than any other country, but it has failed to build world-class teams, partly due to a top-down approach where clubs pick players from a very small pool of prescreened candidates. The professional game is marred by a history of fixed matches, corruption, and dismal performances,
RSS