On Jan. 15, the Taoyuan Pauian Pilots were the toast of Taiwan’s P.League+, having catapulted to the top of the standings with a league record 10th consecutive win.
However, the Pilots began to struggle, and their 90-89 loss to the league-leading New Taipei Kings on Saturday was their ninth in a row — another league record.
Nobody was more crushed than Jason Washburn, who slumped to the floor after the final buzzer sounded and pulled his headband over his eyes, tears flowing.
Photo: CNA
The American scored a game-high 38 points — his P.League+ personal best — including a clutch three that narrowed the Kings’ lead to one with only 31 seconds left.
With 4 seconds on the clock and a chance of breaking the losing streak, Washburn was just long with a baseline turnaround jumper, adding to his frustration.
“My personal feeling on that is it doesn’t matter, because we lost,” Washburn said when asked about his 38 points.
It was the third consecutive game that the Pilots lost by three points or fewer, and their 12th defeat in their past 13 games. Their last win was on Feb. 26, when they held off the Taipei Fubon Braves at Taoyuan Arena.
The Pilots’ sluggish offense has been the main culprit behind the slump. Since Feb. 17, the team has scored an average of only 81.3 points per game.
Taoyuan’s drought has endangered its spot in the playoffs. They are currently third in the standings with a 15-17 record.
The top four teams in the six-team league qualify for the post-season.
Yu Yao-hsing on Tuesday nabbed Taiwan’s only goal in the final round of qualifiers for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, as they fell 3-1 to Sri Lanka at Taipei Municipal Stadium. Early goals from Sri Lanka in the first half left Taiwan struggling to get on the board, and Christopher Tiao’s own goal at 53 minutes sealed the team’s fate in the third round of qualifiers. While acknowledging that the defeat, Taiwan’s sixth in Group D, was disappointing, head coach Matt Ross said he saw reasons to stay positive about the team’s development. “There were lots of positive signs in terms of the
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli yesterday vowed to “keep raising the bar” after winning the Japanese Grand Prix to become the youngest driver in Formula One history to lead the championship standings. The 19-year-old Italian took advantage of a mid-race safety car to jump into the lead after a dreadful start from pole position, crossing the line ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Antonelli’s Suzuka victory came two weeks after the first grand prix win of his career in China, and sent him top of the championship standings after three races, nine points ahead of team-mate George Russell. Mercedes are struggling to
INDIGESTION: Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup for a third consecutive time after a 4-1 defeat to Bosnia on penalties in a loss Gattuso said was ‘difficult to digest’ Coach Graham Arnold on Tuesday challenged his players to “shock the world” after Iraq became the 48th and final team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup with a nerve-shredding 2-1 win over Bolivia in an intercontinental playoff in Mexico, as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Sweden and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) also secured their places at the finals. Iraq, whose preparations were disrupted by the war in the Middle East, sealed their first appearance at the finals in 40 years and are to play in Group I against France, Senegal and Norway. Goals from Ali al-Hamadi
Teng Kai-wei, the only Taiwanese player on an opening-day roster in this year’s Major League Baseball (MLB) season, took his first win of the year with the Houston Astros in his season debut. Teng entered in relief in the top of the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday, with the Astros trailing 5-0. He pitched 2-1/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts, as Houston scored 11 runs during his outing to snatch an 11-9 comeback victory. The win is the Astros’ first of the season and the third of Teng’s MLB career. “It’s my first time pitching for the Astros, so
RSS