TABLE TENNIS
Taiwanese pair victorious
Taiwan’s Lin Yun-ju and Chen Szu-yu were victorious in the mixed doubles final at the World Table Tennis Contender Muscat yesterday, defeating Japan’s Miwa Harimoto and Sora Matsushima 3-1. After a strong start in the first game, Lin and Chen led 6-1, but they faced stiffer competition for the remainder of the game, at one point falling behind by two points. However, Lin’s strong forehand prevailed and the Taiwanese pair took the first game 11-7. They lost the second game 16-18, despite having a 10-7 lead, but bounced back to cinch the third game 11-8 and the fourth 11-4.
Photo: World Table Tennis
TENNIS
Taiwan’s Wu loses
Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien yesterday exited in the semi-finals at the Korea Open at the Seoul Olympic Park Tennis Center. Wu and partner Irina Khromacheva of Russia were beaten 6-3, 6-1 by Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the US and Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic at the US$259,303 hardcourt tournament. Mattek-Sands and Bouzkova face Thai pair Peangtarn Plipuech and Luksika Kumkhum in today’s final.
SOCCER
Three teams qualify
Kylian Mbappe and Cristiano Ronaldo both scored twice on Friday to help France and Portugal secure spots at next year’s European Championship, with Belgium also clinching a berth in Germany. The three European powerhouses all needed a win to qualify for the tournament and their star strikers made sure they got them. France beat the Netherlands 2-1 in Group B, Portugal beat Slovakia 3-2 in Group J and Belgium defeated Austria 3-2 in Group F. In other games, Azerbaijan beat Estonia 2-0, Greece downed Ireland 2-0, Iceland and Luxembourg drew 1-1, and Bosnia and Herzegovina downed Liechtenstein 2-0.
CRICKET
Argentina demolish Chile
Argentina openers Lucia Taylor and Albertina Galan on Friday combined for 350-run partnership as Chile’s bowlers took a hammering in the first of three women’s T20Is in Buenos Aires. The home side rampaged to 427-1 in 20 overs batting first, the highest score in T20Is for men or women. The next-highest women’s total was Bahrain’s 318-1 against Saudi Arabia last year. Taylor made 169 from 84 deliveries before she was bowled by Jessica Miranda (1-64), while Galan finished unbeaten on 145 off 84. Maria Castineiras scored 40 from 16. Argentina hit no sixes, but were gifted 73 extras from a bye, eight wides and 64 no-balls. Florencia Martinez, one of Chile’s seven debutants in the match, conceded 52 runs in her only over, which contained 17 no-balls. Constanza Oyarce went for 92 runs in four overs. Esperanza Rubio (0-57) was the most economical. With the bat, Miranda (27) was the only Chile player to make double figures, while Argentina added 29 to the tally of extras as the visitors were bowled out for 63 in the 15th over, losing by 364 runs. The second match is scheduled for today.
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Coco Gauff’s dreams of a first women’s singles title in Melbourne were crushed in the quarter-finals by Paula Badosa. World No. 2 Alexander Zverev was ruffled by a stray feather in his men’s singles quarter-final, but he refocused to beat 12th seed Tommy Paul and reach the semi-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in 2 hours, 20 minutes to advance the semi-finals. Hsieh and Ostapenko converted eight of 14 break
The San Francisco Giants signed 18-year-old Taiwanese pitcher Yang Nien-hsi (陽念希) to a contract worth a total of US$500,000 (NT $16.39 million). At a press event in Taipei on Wednesday, Jan. 22, the Giants’ Pacific Rim Area scout Evan Hsueh (薛奕煌) presented Yang with a Giants jersey to celebrate the signing. The deal consisted of a contract worth US$450,000 plus a US$50,000 scholarship bonus. Yang, who stands at 188 centimeters tall and weighs 85 kilograms, is of Indigenous Amis descent. With his fastest pitch clocking in at 150 kilometers per hour, Yang had been on Hsueh’s radar since playing in the HuaNan Cup
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE: After Coco Gauff dispatched Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, she wrote ‘RIP TikTok USA’ and drew a broken heart on a television camera lens Defending champion Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while compatriot Chan Hao-ching on Saturday dominated her opponents in the second round, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka swept into the quarter-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia toppled Hungary’s Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US 6-4, 6-3, hitting 24 winners and converting three of seven break points in 1 hour, 18 minutes at 1573 Arena. Although rivals at last year’s Australian Open — where Hsieh and Belgium’s Elise Mertens beat Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-1, 7-5
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