The annual William Jones Cup international basketball invitational tournament hosted by Taiwan is slated to tip off at Heping Basketball Gymnasium in Taipei next month after a three-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the national basketball governing body CTBA said on Wednesday.
At a news conference held for the tournament, association president Hsieh Tien-lin (謝典林) announced the return of the tournament, which is to have six female teams and nine male teams competing from Aug. 5 to 9 and from Aug. 12 to 20 respectively.
Last year, despite the Taiwan-based organization’s efforts, the tournament was ultimately canceled, because teams from other countries were unwilling to follow point-to-point movement restrictions and mandatory quarantine that was still compulsory in Taiwan at that time.
Photo: CNA
“Our players have not been able to play with teams from many countries for three years. I believe the experience will definitely help us in the [Hangzhou] Asian Games if our players and coaching staffers can learn a lot from the William Jones Cup,” said Sang Mao-sen (桑茂森), who coaches the Taiwanese men’s Blue team.
Each group in the tournament includes two teams from Taiwan, blue teams, consisting of the main roster of Taiwan’s national team, and white teams, made up of younger players who have the potential to represent the national team in the future.
Taiwan’s women are to square off against teams from South Korea, Japan, the Philippines and Iran, while Taiwan’s men are set to defend their home turf against South Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Qatar, Iran, the United Arab Emirates and the US, the association said.
Liu Cheng (劉錚), a 32-year-old veteran forward on the men’s blue team, said the group training of one to two months was not quite enough, but he promised to “lead by example.”
Also in the blue team is 23-year-old Benson Lin (林庭謙), whose first two outings in the tournament were in the white team.
Asked to comment on his mindset coming into the tournament, Lin said he expects to play a bigger role this year in the absence of Ray Chen (陳盈駿), who could miss the William Jones Cup due to an ankle operation.
Chen, 30, is a two-time Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) All-Star, who averaged 16.7 points and 7.3 assists per game for the Guangzhou Loong Lions in the 2022-2023 season and has agreed to a three-year extension with the CBA club last month.
Sang said whether Chen can play depends on how well he recovers, but the priority would be the Asian Games in late September.
Meanwhile, the men’s white team sees two new faces, Taiwanese-American brothers Adam Hinton and Robert Hinton, who play for Cornell University in the NCAA Division I in the US and have committed to Harvard University.
Tickets to the Taiwan-hosted tournament can be bought on ticketing platform ERA Ticket.
Held in Taiwan since 1977, the tournament was named after British basketball promoter Renato William Jones, the first secretary-general of the International Basketball Federation, the sport’s world-governing body, a post he held for 44 years from 1932.
Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr arrived in Taiwan last night to kick off his first visit to the country since beginning his second term earlier this year. After arriving at Taoyuan International Airport at around 6:30 pm, Whipps and his delegation were welcomed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍). Speaking to gathered media, the Palauan leader said he was excited and honored to be back in Taiwan on his first state visit to Taiwan since he was sworn in this January. Among those traveling with Whipps is Minister of State Gustav N. Aitaro, Public Infrastructure
RESOLUTIONS DEBATE: Taiwan’s allies said that UN and WHA resolutions cited by China and other nations ‘do not determine Taiwan’s participation in WHO activities’ A proposal to invite Taiwan to this year’s World Health Assembly (WHA) was rejected on Monday, resulting in Taipei’s absence from the annual meeting for a ninth consecutive year, although partners spoke up for Taiwan’s participation at the first day of the meeting. The first agenda item after the opening was a “two-on-two debate” on a proposal to invite Taiwan to participate at the WHA as an observer. Similar to previous years, two countries made statements in favor of the proposal, while two others expressed their opposition. Philippine Secretary of Health Teodoro Herbosa, president of the 78th WHA, accepted the WHA General Committee’s
At least three people died and more than a dozen were injured yesterday afternoon when a vehicle struck a group of pedestrians in New Taipei City’s Sansia District (三峽). The incident happened at about 4pm when a car rammed into pedestrians at an intersection near Bei Da Elementary School. Witnesses said the sedan, being driven at a high speed, ran a red light, knocking scooters out of the way and hitting students crossing the road before careening into a median near the intersection of Guocheng and Guoguang streets. The incident resulted in three deaths and 13 injuries, including the driver, a 78-year-old man
Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) on Friday laid out the Cabinet’s updated policy agenda and recapped the government’s achievements ahead of the one-year anniversary of President William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration. Cho said the government had made progress across a range of areas, including rebuilding Hualien, cracking down on fraud, improving pedestrian safety and promoting economic growth. “I hope the public will not have the impression that the Cabinet only asked the legislature to reconsider a bunch of legal amendments,” Cho said, calling the moves “necessary” to protect constitutional governance and the public’s interest. The Cabinet would work toward achieving its “1+7” plan, he said. The