Sport in Taiwan

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Sports are a popular recreation activity in Taiwan, officially known as the Republic of China. Some of the most common sports include basketball, baseball, soccer and softball.[1] Martial arts such as t'ai chi ch'uan and taekwondo is also practiced by many people. The most popular spectator sport is baseball. It is commonly considered the national sport in Taiwan.[2] Due to political reasons and pressures from the People's Republic of China, the organisations or national teams from Taiwan have been competing as Chinese Taipei in international sporting events, such as the Olympic Games.

Baseball was first introduced during Japanese rule. It is the most popular spectator sport in Taiwan.[1][2] The professional baseball league is the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL), and the main playoff competition is the Taiwan Series. Taiwan has been "exporting" baseball talents to Japan and United States over the past few decades, such as Tai-Yuan Kuo (Taigen Kaku) to the Seibu Lions and Chien-Ming Wang to the Washington Nationals. The Chinese Taipei baseball team is currently the fifth ranked baseball team in the world.[3]

Basketball

Basketball is the most popular ball sport in Taiwan that people actually play.[4] The men's and women's basketball leagues are the Super Basketball League (SBL) and the Women's Super Basketball League (WSBL), respectively. The Chinese Taipei women's national basketball team won the silver medal in the 2006 Asian Games.

Football

Due to Japanese (long before the J. League made football popular in Japan) and American influence, football has not been as popular as baseball or basketball in Taiwan, although it has a history of success at the Asian level. Football is run by the Chinese Taipei Football Association (CTFA), which in turn runs the national teams for men and women and several domestic competitions.

The top league of football, the Intercity Football League, is relatively semi-professional and dominated by two teams, Tatung F.C. from Taipei and Taipower F.C. from Kaohsiung. As an incentive, the Asian Football Confederation runs the AFC President's Cup continental club competition for countries where football is relatively undeveloped, and these two clubs often take turns representing Taiwan in it.

There are many amateur football clubs run by foreign expatriates within Taiwan, but they run their own amateur competitions. An example is 100 Pacers F.C. in Kaohsiung. At youth level, there are Highschool Football League, National Youth Cup, and football program in the National High School Games.

Rugby union

Main article: Rugby union in Taiwan

Rugby union has had some presence in Taiwan for most of the post war period. The national sevens team has been particularly successful.

Volleyball

Starting from 2004, Chinese Taipei Volleyball Association holds the Enterprise Volleyball League every year. It is a men's amateur volleyball league. In total 4 teams participated in the 2008 season.

Individual sports

Archery

Taiwanese competitors regularly participate in archery tournaments, occasionally winning medals in major sport events. Taiwanese archery team is also one of the top teams in the world.

Table Tennis

Many Taiwanese people play table tennis because it does not require a lot of strength and space. The competitions, however, are not watched by many, because the speed and complex technique is difficult for average audiences to follow.

Cycling

2007 Tour de Taiwan (2007年國際自由車環台賽) was held in March 2007.

Golf

Golf was introduced during the Japanese colonial period, with the first golf club opening in 1919.[5] In 1982, T.C. Chen became the first professional golfer from Taiwan to earn a PGA Tour card. After a period of decline, Golf has become increasingly popular in Taiwan.[6] Yani Tseng (曾雅妮) was the 2008 LPGA Rookie of the Year. On 1 August 2010 she became the youngest woman to win three Majors.

Marathon

Marathon races are held in many places in Taiwan each year. Many marathoners from all over the world participate in these races. In the 2007 Carrefour Taipei International Expressway Marathon, African runners dominated both men and women divisions.[7]

Tennis

In recent years both male and female tennis players from Taiwan got solid results and rankings. Lu Yen-hsun (盧彥勳) and Wang Yeu-Tzuoo (王宇佐) has been ranked Top 100 (Lu's highest rank is no. 33 in July 2010, and Wang's was 85 in March 2006). Both of them set records for Taiwanese tennis history. As of the female, before the new generation that included Chan Yung-jan (詹詠然), Chuang Chia-jung (莊佳容) and Hsieh Su-wei (謝淑薇) rose, Wang Shi-ting (王思婷) was the most well-known tennis player in Taiwan. Wang Shi-ting was ranked No. 26 in 1993.

Taekwondo

Taiwanese competitors regularly participate in Taekwondo tournaments from Asian Games to the Olympics. In 2004 Summer Olympics, Chen Shih-hsin (陳詩欣) and Chu Mu-yen (朱木炎) won the first two Gold Metals for Taiwan.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Baseball most popular sport in Taiwan: poll". Focus Taiwan News. 3 July 2010. Retrieved 3 July 2010.
  2. ^ a b Taiwan Baseball a new rallying point for national pride
  3. ^ IBAF World Rankings
  4. ^ In Taiwan cricket is a very famous game. It is played by lots of people in different age groups. A Passion for Hoops
  5. ^ http://taiwanreview.nat.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=46220&CtNode=1360
  6. ^ http://www.thgc.com.tw/en/mag_v02p50.html
  7. ^ Central News Agency "African runners win Taipei marathon held on No. 1 expressway" Taiwan News, 2007-03-26

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sports in Taiwan.

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