The Taiwan men’s team yesterday blanked Madagascar to ease into the knockout rounds of the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals in Busan, South Korea, while the Taiwan women’s team finished undefeated atop Group 4.
On the final day of group stage matches, Taiwan handily toppled Madagascar, with world No. 31 teenager Kao Cheng-jui dominating world No. 113 Antoine Razafinarivo 11-7, 11-3, 11-5 at table one at the Busan Exhibition and Convention Center.
Twenty-year-old Huang Yan-cheng followed with an 11-4, 11-7, 11-8 win over Fabio Rakotoarimanana, while world No. 97 Feng Yi-hsin wrapped up the match, beating Jonathan Nativel 11-3, 11-4, 11-8.
Photo: Reuters
The win puts Taiwan, who are 3-1 in Group 5, into the knockout rounds with Japan and the Czech Republic, who they edged on Monday to stay in contention, after they were beaten by seven-time champions and group leaders Japan on Sunday.
Taiwan — who finished with a bronze in the 2014 edition, but in 2022 crashed out without a win in Chengdu, China — got off to a difficult start against the Czech Republic, with world No. 111 Lubomir Jancarik overcoming 19-year-old Kao 11-5, 11-7, 24-22.
However, Olympic medalist and world No. 8 star Lin Yun-ju evened the score, making short work of Tomas Polansky and beating him 11-2, 11-7, 11-4.
Twenty-two-year-old Lin saved the day again with an 11-8, 11-5, 11-5 victory over Jancarik, after world No. 35 Chuang Chih-yuan fell 11-1, 12-10, 4-11, 11-7 to Jiri Martinko.
Kao wrapped up the match with a win over Polanksy, who was listed as injured.
In women’s action, Taiwan on Monday eased past the US with a 3-1 win to blast into the round of 16, joining China, Japan, Germany, South Korea and Romania as the undefeated teams in the group stages.
After Wang Yi-ju lost the first match to Tiffany Ke 11-4, 11-6, 11-8, world No. 67 Li Yu-jhun, who competed in the bronze-medal winning Taiwan team in Chengdu, bounced back from a first game loss to beat Emily Tan 9-11, 11-3, 11-9, 11-4.
Taiwanese star Cheng I-ching — who won a bronze in the mixed doubles at the Tokyo Games with Lin — blanked Kayla Goodwin 14-12, 11-5, 11-3, while Li downed Ke 11-4, 11-8, 11-5.
OFFENSE SHINES: First baseman Pan Chie-kai hit a solo homer in the fifth inning as all 10 batters Taiwan used contributed at least one hit toward their team total of 14 One day after their first shutout loss at the WBSC Premier12, Taiwan yesterday bounced back with a commanding 8-2 victory over the US, keeping their hopes for a spot in tomorrow’s final alive. The win in the Super Round marked Taiwan’s first triumph over the US at a top-tier international baseball tournament since 2003. Their previous win over the US was at the 2003 Baseball World Cup, with only one win in the previous 10 matchups since 1999. Yesterday’s game was tightly contested through the first six innings, with the margin never exceeding two runs. However, the tide turned in the top of
Nikola Jokic on Saturday scored 34 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to spark the Denver Nuggets over the Los Angeles Lakers 127-102, continuing their dominance of the NBA rivalry, while Scotty Pippen Jr scored a career-best 30 points to lead the Memphis Grizzlies past the Chicago Bulls, 142-131. The Nuggets won for the 13th time in the past 14 contests against the Lakers, including ousting the Lakers in the playoffs the past two seasons. Serbian star Jokic failed to achieve his sixth consecutive triple-double, managing only eight assists, but his effort was plenty as Michael Porter Jr added 24 points and 11
TWO-NIL LOSS: Taiwan’s best chance to score came at the top of the fifth with the bases loaded and one out, but Venezuela’s Liarvis Breto got out of the jam Taiwan yesterday suffered a shutout 2-0 loss to Venezuela in the opening game of the WBSC Premier12 Super Round at the Tokyo Dome. Taiwan had seven hits, one more than Venezuela’s six, but catcher Carlos Perez’s two-run homer to left field in the bottom of the fourth inning delivered the only runs scored by both teams and secured victory for Venezuela. Taiwan’s best chance came at the top of the fifth inning with the bases loaded and only one out. However, Venezuela reliever Liarvis Breto struck out Chen Chen-wei before reliever Pedro Garcia finished the inning by allowing an infield flyball by Lin
As sporting celebrations go, it does not quite have the charm of Roger Milla’s hip-wiggling shimmy with a corner flag at the 1990 World Cup or the imperious swagger of Usain Bolt’s iconic lightning pose. However, a dance move inspired by US president-elect Donald Trump’s stilted on-stage boogieing has rapidly become the celebration of choice across the US sporting world. From the blood-soaked UFC to the hard-hitting NFL and the reliably decorous world of the LPGA Tour, athletes across North America have succumbed to the viral Trump dance craze in the past week. On Monday, US soccer star Christian Pulisic became the latest
RSS