Taiwan Team A pulled off a thrilling 86-77 win over the Philippines at the Taipei County Sinjhuang Gymnasium on Sunday night to remain unbeaten at 2-0 in Jones Cup action.
Even though the final score might suggest a relatively easy win for the hosts, and though they led by as much as 16 points in the first half and started the second half 53-38, the Filipinos opened the second half with a ferocious 20-6 run.
The game quickly turned into a seesaw battle for the better part of the second half.
PHOTO: LIAO CHEN-HUI, TAIPEI TIMES
It was not until consecutive threes by Taiwan’s Yang Jing-min and Tien Lei, with under four minutes remaining in the game, broke a tie at 72 to put the home team ahead for good.
South Korea 101, Taiwan Team B 93
Taiwan Team B lost to South Korea 101-93 loss earlier on Sunday to remain winless at 0-2.
Despite the score, it was a moral victory for the young home squad, which converted on 14 of 34 three-point attempts to rattle a South Korean lineup of mostly seasoned professional players in the Korean Basketball League.
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