Taipower FC and Tainan TSG (Taiwan Steel Group) picked up wins over the weekend in the Taiwan Football Premier League (TFPL) to remain tied at the top of the table on 28 points, meaning that the title race for the second half of the season is likely to go down to the wire.
Taipower FC edged Taichung Futuro 2-1 in Jhubei City on Sunday, with midfielder Ko Yu-ting hitting the goal of the day after he carried the ball down left flank, fought off two challengers and fired a looping shot into the net from the edge of the box to send Taipower ahead 1-0.
In the 84th minute, Ko had a shot from inside the box blocked, but teammate Lin Chien-hsun slotted in the rebound to make it 2-0.
Photo courtesy of CTFA
The match ended 2-1, after Futuro scored late into added time when substitute Huang Sheng-chieh volleyed a cross from striker Lee Mao into the net. The defeat left Futuro in third place on 20 points.
In the post-match interview, Taipower manager Chen Kuei-jen lauded Ko’s vital contribution.
“It’s good to see Ko finally took his coaches’ advice. We told him to take more shots when he had the opportunity. He is among the better Taiwanese players, good at shooting and dribbling the ball,” Chen said.
“I asked him to try to make more shots on goal in this game, not just to get past defenders and pass the ball off. So, in this match, Ko made a brilliant shot, arching it perfectly over Futuro goalkeeper Kochi Jun and into the top corner,” Chen added.
Also on Sunday, visitors Tainan TSG crushed Land Home-NTUS (National Taiwan University of Sport) 9-0 at the Taiyuan Soccer Field in Taichung.
Tainan TSG were led by Turks and Caicos Islands striker Marc Fenelus, who tallied three late goals to give the team their fourth consecutive win.
Land Home-NTUS’ student athletes faced a star-studded Tainan TSG lineup, including other skilled foreign players. Haitian forward Benchy Estama scored a brace for Tainan TSG in the first half, while Ivory Coast striker Ange Samuel and midfielder Chen Juei-chieh scored one apiece, putting them out in front by four goals at halftime.
In the second half, Fenelus substituted for Russian midfielder Alim Zumakulov and led the Tainan TSG offense on the attack, forcing Land Home-NTUS to stick close to their own net.
Samuel and Chen each scored for Tainan TSG in the second half, while Fenelus fired in three late goals to complete the 9-0 rout against Land Home-NTUS.
In Sunday’s other contest, Tatung FC rallied to beat CPC FC 3-2 in Kaohsiung.
Guatemalan forward Gerardo Rabre struck early for Tatung, but CPC replied with goals from Chilean midfielder Matias Godoy and teammate Chou Cheng to lead 2-1 at halftime.
At eight minutes into the second half, Tatung winger Hsu Fan-shao, evading two defenders along the left flank, advanced on goal and fired the equalizer, making it 2-2.
At the hour mark, Tatung forward Ben Ouedraogo from Burkina Faso charged into the box and was upended by CPC goalkeeper Tsai Shuo-tse, but converted the penalty, putting his team out in front 3-2.
Tatung chalked up their first victory since the season resumed this month after neither side could capitalize on numerous opportunities.
In the women’s Taiwan Mulan Football League, Hualien City nosed ahead in the title race on 20 points after thrashing Taoyuan International 3-0 on Saturday.
Taichung Blue Whale remain in second on 17 after holding Kaohsiung Sunny Bank to a 1-1 draw, while New Taipei Hang Yuan defeated Taipei Bravo Bear 2-0.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but