The Chan sisters yesterday secured their place in the Taipei Summer Universiade women’s doubles tennis final after beating their Japanese opponents in straight sets, while Chang Kai-chen and Jason Jung proceeded to the semi-finals in the women’s and men’s tennis singles respectively.
Chan Jung-jan and Chan Hao-ching eliminated Erina Hayashi and Robu Kajitani 6-1, 6-3, placing them one step closer to the gold medal.
After the match, Chan Jung-jan said that they were able to control the rhythm right from the beginning and that the match went smoothly overall, despite their opponents breaking a serve.
Photo: Hsu Ming-li, Taipei Times
“We expected them to fight hard when they were behind. We managed to sabotage their game plan when their success rate was low,” she said.
Chan Jun-jan said that they were fortunate that it was cloudy during the semi-final so that they did not have to play in the scorching heat.
Chan Hao-ching said today’s final will be a rare opportunity to play for Taiwan, adding that she and her sister would like to keep the gold for Taiwan.
Chang yesterday faced a tough, nearly three-hour fight against England’s Emily Arbuthnott, making 29 unforced errors and losing the first set of the quarter-final 4-6.
She later forced a tie by taking the second set 6-3.
Despite her strong performance in the first set, Arbuthnott’s strength appeared to decline significantly in the third set, giving Chang the opportunity to turn the tide, and win the set 6-1.
Chang is to play against Thailand’s Varatchaya Wongteanchai today, whom she beat in three sets two year’s ago in the Gwangju Universiade semi-final in South Korea.
“She is the kind of player who will not let her opponent score easily. I will have play with patience and strategy,” Chang said.
Jung entered the semi-final after defeating Kazakhstan’s Denis Yevseyev 6-1, 6-2.
The US-born Jung, who is representing Taiwan, thanked spectators for cheering him, which he said boosted his energy.
“I need to play hard every day, even though I may not reach my goal,” he said.
World No. 1 badminton player Tai Tzu-ying cruised into the final 16 in the women’s singles after vanquishing Japanese Ayaho Sugino 21-14, 21-13.
Lee Chia-hsin, Chiang Mei-hui, Wang Tzu-wei and Hsu Jen-hao have all entered the women’s and men’s round of 16 competitions.
Lee and Wang Chi-ling beat Japan’s Katsuki Tamate and Miyuki Kato 21-9, 21-16 to go on to the round of 16 for mixed doubles.
Taiwan’s table tennis team claimed bronze in the mixed doubles final after Liao Cheng-tin and Chen Szu-yu lost to South Korea’s Jang Woojin and Jeon Ji-hee three sets to four.
Chen also teamed up with Cheng I-ching in a bid to claim a spot in the women’s doubles semi-final, as did Cheng Hsien-tzu and Liu Yu-hsin. However, their quests ended after losing to Japan and South Korea in the quarter-finals respectively.
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