The Yulon Luxgen Dinos’ 80-75 win over Taiwan Beer at Taipei’s Tianmu Stadium yesterday moved them up into first place in the Super Basketball League (SBL), although they had to do it without their star Palestinian player, Sani Sakakini.
Since the season started in mid-November, Sakakini has lit up the boards, a performance responsible for pushing the Dinos to the front of the pack.
Having already been awarded best player of the week twice, Sakanini was honored as the league’s most valuable player by SBL officials for last month.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times
In the Dinos’ 10 matchups last month, power forward Sakakini scored more than 25 points in six straight games — including netting more than 30 points in three consecutive outings — and put up double-doubles eight times.
Having played in Jordan and Lebanon, as well as five seasons in China’s CBA league, Sakakini is outperforming foreign players from the US and Europe, several of whom have NBA experience, but who pale in comparison to the Palestinian’s scoring touch and work ethic.
Last month, Sakakini topped the league with an average of 25.2 points, 14 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1 turnover and 0.7 blocks, league statistics showed.
However, in last night’s defeat of Taiwan Beer, Dinos supporters were disappointed to see Sakakini sidelined due to a back injury that he sustained last week, as American Eric Dawson, who played in Puerto Rico and Argentina, stepped up as power forward.
Dawson proved a capable replacement, putting up 33 points and 21 rebounds to lead the Dinos to victory against Taiwan Beer, as veteran Taiwanese front-man Lu Cheng-ju pitched in with 28 points and six rebounds.
It was a memorable game for fans, as Lu’s 28 markers gave an SBL career total of 4,899, putting him ahead of Tien Lei, currently with the ASEAN Basketball League’s Formosa Dreamers, to become all-time scorer in the SBL, which is in its 15th season.
“I have to thank my teammates for passing me the ball and pushing me to hit the shots,” Lu said of his record-breaking night. “Also it was great to do it as our team also won the game. The team’s winning result had to come first, and I also thank the club for cultivating me to become a better player.”
Lu, who has played with the Dinos for 13 seasons, was presented with the game ball at the end of the night.
Lu said he would put it in a display case to commemorate the record-breaking game.
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
Dubbed a “motorway for cyclists” where avid amateurs can chase Tadej Pogacar up mountains teeming with the highest concentration of professional cyclists per square kilometer in the world, Spain’s Costa Blanca has forged a new reputation for itself in the past few years. Long known as the ideal summer destination for those in search of sun, sea and sand, the stretch of coast between Valencia and Alicante now has a winter vocation too. During the season break in December and January, the region experiences an invasion of cyclists. Star names such as three-time Tour de France winner Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel and Julian Alaphilippe
RSS