Reigning champions the Chan sisters yesterday cruised into the semi-finals of the doubles at the Taiwan Open, while the upsets continued in the singles as Peng Shuai defeated second seed Samantha Stosur and wild-card Lucie Safarova ousted sixth seed Misaki Doi.
Taiwanese top seeds Chan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan took just 58 minutes to see off Danka Kovinic of Montenegro and Magda Linette of Poland 6-1, 6-4.
The sisters, looking to retain the title they won in Kaohsiung last year, had their serve broken only once at 4-3 in the second set, but they broke straight back, one of the four out of six break points they converted.
Photo: Chen Chi-chu
“We made preparations for the match by watching them play the other day, so we developed a strategy against them,” Chan Yung-jan said. “In today’s match, we aimed to get the ball to areas where they could not play their favored return shots and at angles difficult for them to reach, forcing mistakes. We are pleased with how the match turned out, it was much better than our last outing earlier this week and one of our best recent performances.”
“Yes, our strategy worked quite well today and in the second set they changed their positioning, so we also made adjustments to our game,” Chan Hao-ching said. “It was a satisfying win.”
In the semi-finals, the top seeds face Chinese duo Liu Chang and Zheng Saisai, who ousted fourth-seeded Japanese pairing Eri Hozumi and Miyu Kato 6-2, 7-5 in 1 hour, 19 minutes.
In the quarter-finals of the singles, Chinese world No. 71 Peng stunned world No. 23 Stosur 6-4, 6-4 in 1 hour, 39 minutes.
Peng fired six aces, saved nine of 11 break points and converted four of seven to finally record a victory against the Australian at the seventh time of asking on her fourth match point.
“It feels really great to get this first win against Stosur,” Peng said with a big smile. “Actually, I don’t know how I beat her today.”
“Coming back from my surgery in 2015, [I] only returned last year, so it is a blessing just to be able to compete again,” she said. “It is important to persevere with your goals and getting this first win against her really means a lot to me.”
Peng faces world No. 55 Safarova in the semi-finals after the Czech ousted Japanese world No. 41 Doi 6-4, 7-6 (7/1) in 1 hour, 43 minutes in a rare meeting of two left-handers.
The 29-year-old former world No. 5 saved eight of 10 break points and converted three of nine to level her career record against Doi at 1-1 following a defeat on clay in Rome last year.
“It was a good match for me today, I got my serves in really well in the first set, then she broke my serve, but then [I] fought back in second set to hold my serve. Overall it was a nice result for me,” Safarova said.
“It is rare for two left-handed players to face each other... It’s the spin which is different than for right-handed players and I had to adjust through the games,” she added.
Today’s other semi-final sees top seed Elina Svitolina take on Mandy Minella.
Ukraine’s Svitolina survived a massive scare to overcome Ons Jabeur of Tunisia 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (7/4) in 1 hour, 55 minutes, while Luxembourg’s Minella rallied from a set down to outlast Zhu Lin of China 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 in 2 hours, 11 minutes.
Taiwan’s participation in the Olympic Games has been a story of politics as much as sports, with the name it has competed under since 1984 — Chinese Taipei — drawing as much attention as its athletes. However, with the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad set to begin in Paris on Friday, the exploits of Taiwan’s athletes past and present who have won 36 medals since the country’s debut in Melbourne in 1956 deserve a nod. Many of Taiwan’s medal winners have gained considerable name recognition, but only two have achieved legendary status — Maysang Kalimud and Chi Cheng, the only medal winners
Shohei Ohtani on Sunday hit a 473-foot (144m) home run as the Los Angeles Dodgers went deep six times in a 9-6 victory over the Boston Red Sox. Freddie Freeman, Teoscar Hernandez, Gavin Lux, Austin Barnes and Jason Heyward also connected as Los Angeles swept the three-game series. “Going into the break, we weren’t playing good baseball, and then to come out fresh against a really good ball club and to play the way we did — the offense came to life,” Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said. It was the 25th time the Dodgers launched at least six homers in a game
Canada women’s soccer coach Bev Priestman on Wednesday said she would step away from the team’s opening game against New Zealand at the Paris Olympics in the wake of a drone scandal. New Zealand complained to the International Olympic Committee’s integrity unit after it said drones were flown over closed practice sessions earlier in the week. As of press time last night, Canada, the defending Olympic champions, were set to open the Paris Games against New Zealand in Saint-Etienne. In the fallout of the complaint, two staff members — assistant coach Jasmine Mander and analyst Joseph Lombardi — were sent home, the
Conventional wisdom dictates that the average retirement age for elite female players in the intense and physically demanding sport of badminton is well under 30 years old. Five female shuttlers are set to turn that on its head when they make their fourth Olympic appearances at the Paris Games, a feat never accomplished before. Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying, 30, Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon, 29, Belgium’s Lianne Tan, 33, and Hong Kong’s Tse Ying Suet and Canada’s Michelle Li, both 32, are to compete for Olympic glory at Porte de La Chapelle Arena from Saturday to Aug. 5. “These achievements get missed because they’re women,” said