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.
Juventus on Sunday stopped Inter from replacing SSC Napoli at the top of Serie A by beating their fierce rivals 1-0 and moving into the UEFA Champions League positions. Francisco Conceicao made sure that Napoli would stay two points ahead of reigning champions Inter by classily tucking home the winning goal 16 minutes before the end of an entertaining contest in Turin. Portugal attacker Conceicao netted his fourth goal of the season in all competitions after brilliant work from Randal Kolo Muani to give Juve a third straight league win. Juve are in fourth place on 46 points, ahead on goal-difference from SS
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) is considering reducing its pitch clock by two seconds to help players better adjust to the rules applied at the World Baseball Classic (WBC). The proposal aims to shorten the pitch timer from 25 seconds to 23 seconds with the bases empty, and from 20 seconds to 18 seconds with runners on base. Currently, the WBC mandates that pitchers deliver a pitch every 18 seconds with the bases empty and 15 seconds with runners on base. The issue was raised during a pre-season CPBL managers’ meeting on Tuesday by Rakuten Monkeys bench and batting
‘SETTING THE TONE’: Donovan Mitchell said that their determination to dominate had nothing to do with past results, but was about a potential post-season clash The Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday boosted their NBA-best record with a 142-105 romp past the New York Knicks, tightening their grip on the Eastern Conference lead with an all-around dominant display. Donovan Mitchell scored 27 points to lead six Cavs players to score in double figures, connecting on five of seven three-pointers as Cleveland drilled 19 from beyond the arc. “I think the biggest thing was just try to set the tone early,” Mitchell said, adding that the determination to dominate had nothing to do with the Knicks’ first-round playoff win over the Cavs two seasons ago and everything to do with
RSS