Taiwan proved no match for Qatar on Saturday night as they were on the wrong end of an 84-80 scoreline on the third day of the Jones Cup at the Taipei County Sinjhuang Gymnasium.
Failure to establish an inside presence because of the absence of a true center continued to haunt the hosts as they relied predominantly on an inconsistent perimeter game that has not delivered a winning formula.
Even though the resilient Taiwanese showed no sign of letting up in the game, with a fierce rally that brought them back from as many as 19 points down, the outcome of the contest was never in doubt.
“It was a moral victory for us, since it taught some of our younger guys about not quitting,” team captain Yang Tseh-yi (Yulon Dinos) said after the game.
Qatar wasted little time exploiting Taiwan’s weak interior defense by punching the ball inside the paint regularly, with Erfan Ali Saeed contributing a dozen points en route to a 28-16 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Then came a swarming three-point attack that converted nine-of-17 attempts to force Taiwan out of their “defend the middle” game plan, which then opened up the paint for the Saeed, who scored a game-high 21 points.
Four different players scored in double-digits for Taiwan, led by Yang’s 17 and Ou-Yang Jing-hen (dmedia Numen) in a close second with 16.
TONIGHT’S GAME
Taiwan take on Egypt at 7pm tonight in another uphill battle as the Egyptians look to feast off the shortest line-up (average height of 190cm) at this year’s competition with a towering team that averages more than 200cm.
Finding a way to sustain a high-pressure defense may be Taiwan’s only hope of pulling off an upset as the speedy guards could utilize their speed to create some turnovers such as they did in the final quarter against Qatar.
Taiwan’s participation in the Olympic Games has been a story of politics as much as sports, with the name it has competed under since 1984 — Chinese Taipei — drawing as much attention as its athletes. However, with the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad set to begin in Paris on Friday, the exploits of Taiwan’s athletes past and present who have won 36 medals since the country’s debut in Melbourne in 1956 deserve a nod. Many of Taiwan’s medal winners have gained considerable name recognition, but only two have achieved legendary status — Maysang Kalimud and Chi Cheng, the only medal winners
Shohei Ohtani on Sunday hit a 473-foot (144m) home run as the Los Angeles Dodgers went deep six times in a 9-6 victory over the Boston Red Sox. Freddie Freeman, Teoscar Hernandez, Gavin Lux, Austin Barnes and Jason Heyward also connected as Los Angeles swept the three-game series. “Going into the break, we weren’t playing good baseball, and then to come out fresh against a really good ball club and to play the way we did — the offense came to life,” Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said. It was the 25th time the Dodgers launched at least six homers in a game
Canada women’s soccer coach Bev Priestman on Wednesday said she would step away from the team’s opening game against New Zealand at the Paris Olympics in the wake of a drone scandal. New Zealand complained to the International Olympic Committee’s integrity unit after it said drones were flown over closed practice sessions earlier in the week. As of press time last night, Canada, the defending Olympic champions, were set to open the Paris Games against New Zealand in Saint-Etienne. In the fallout of the complaint, two staff members — assistant coach Jasmine Mander and analyst Joseph Lombardi — were sent home, the
Conventional wisdom dictates that the average retirement age for elite female players in the intense and physically demanding sport of badminton is well under 30 years old. Five female shuttlers are set to turn that on its head when they make their fourth Olympic appearances at the Paris Games, a feat never accomplished before. Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying, 30, Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon, 29, Belgium’s Lianne Tan, 33, and Hong Kong’s Tse Ying Suet and Canada’s Michelle Li, both 32, are to compete for Olympic glory at Porte de La Chapelle Arena from Saturday to Aug. 5. “These achievements get missed because they’re women,” said