The reunited Chan sisters on Thursday advanced to the second round of the doubles at the BNP Paribas Open, while fellow Taiwanese Hsieh Su-wei set up a second-round singles clash with Spanish 27th seed Carla Suarez Navarro when her German opponent, Carina Witthoeft, retired with an injury.
The second-seeded Chan sisters, Hao-ching and Latisha, took just 65 minutes to see off the challenge of Latvian top-20 singles specialists Jelena Ostapenko and Anastasija Sevastova 6-2, 6-3 at Indian Wells in California.
The Taiwanese duo saved five of seven break points and converted five of 13, winning 56 of the 98 points contested.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“Today is our first match [together] after a long time, but I think it was a great match,” Latisha Chan told the WTA Web site.
“It was pretty aggressive and strong, and then we were strong when we had to [be]. There were quite a few deuces and I’m glad that we made it at the end,” she added.
World doubles No. 1 Latisha Chan had been playing with Andrea Sestini Hlavackova of the Czech Republic so far this season, while Chan Hao-ching tasted success with Chinese partner Yang Zhaoxuan when they won the Dubai Championships last month.
“For now, the US swing, we’re going to play together and we’ll see how it goes,” Latisha Chan said.
“With Andi [Sestini Hlavackova] I’m returning on the ad court and now I’m on the deuce court, that’s a change again. So I’ll have to see how I adjust to it,” she said, adding that she prefers to play on the deuce side.
With a US$1 million bonus to be awarded to any player who can win both the singles and doubles titles this year, quite a few stars of the singles are competing in the doubles.
“It’s great that you can see the strong singles players join us to play the doubles and I think that’s a great opportunity for all the fans to see all of us on the doubles court,” Latisha Chan said.
“They just need maybe a few more matches, a few more opportunities to get into the doubles, then I’m sure [the] doubles can be really competitive,” she added.
The Chan sisters next face fellow Taiwanese Hsieh and Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic, who edged Alicja Rosolska of Poland and Abigail Spears of the US 3-6, 6-4, 10-8 on Wednesday.
In the singles, qualifier Hsieh was leading 5-4 when Witthoeft retired.
A seven-year-old horse had to be euthanized on Friday after breaking its back on the final fence of a Grand National steeplechase race that it won despite sustaining the serious injury. It follows the death of four horses at the Cheltenham Festival last month — including one after the prestigious Gold Cup. Gold Dancer was competing in the Mildmay Novices’ Chase during Ladies Day at Aintree’s Grand National Festival. The horse managed to cross the finish line approximately four lengths ahead of runner-up Regent’s Stroll. “The winner of our second race of the day, Gold Dancer, was pulled up after
Taiwanese gymnast Tang Chia-hung on Sunday topped the men’s horizontal bar event at the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) World Cup in Osijek, Croatia, scoring 15.233 to take his third title this season. Tang delivered an outstanding performance in the final, earning a difficulty score of 6.500 and an execution score of 8.633 with a 0.1 stick bonus. His closest competitor was Milad Karimi of Kazakhstan, who finished second with 14.933 points. It was Tang’s third gold medal in the FIG World Cup series this year, following his horizontal bar wins in Azerbaijan on March 8, and in Turkey on March
The Daredevils yesterday took eight catches in the final as they eked out a victory in the Taiwan Cricket Triangular Tournament against PCCT at Yingfeng Cricket Ground in Taipei’s Songshan District. PCCT’s batting lineup collapsed after they asked the Daredevils to bowl in the T20 decider of the weekend tournament that also involved the Formosa Cricket Club. PCCT were bundled out for 76 in 16.2 overs against a disciplined Daredevils attack. Ninad Malwade was the top scorer in the innings with 21, but he was among those who offered chances to the fielders. Shane Ferreira and Jason Cameron took three wickets each, with
This year’s Taiwan Athletics Open, which offers Taiwanese athletes an opportunity to compete against their international peers, would be held under a new name after its organizers had earlier announced the event’s cancelation. In a statement issued yesterday, the Chinese Taipei Athletics Association said the competition would still take place on June 6-7 at Banciao Stadium, but under the name “New Taipei City Athletics Open 2026.” The event was given a new name to emphasize its local identity and conform with the international practice of naming World Athletics Tour events after cities, the association said. It said it would soon
RSS