The Wait Is Over! Lu Chi-Er Returns from Injury to Official Competition, Leopards Beat Japan's Nihon Tengu 95-76 for Second Straight Win
After a long road to recovery, Lu Chi-Er finally made his return to official competition at the TAT Chengdu stop, scoring 8 points as a starter in his comeback game. The next day, the Taoyuan Taiwan Beer Leopards defeated Japan's Nihon Tengu 95-76 to open the tournament with two straight wins.
The TAT (The Asian Tournament) 2026 Chengdu stop continued on August 18 at the Jianyang Cultural and Sports Center, where the Taoyuan Taiwan Beer Leopards carried their opening-game momentum into a 95-76 win over Japan's Nihon Tengu, securing their second straight victory in Chengdu.
The Leopards took a 24-19 lead in the first quarter, then extended their advantage with a 26-16 second quarter to enter halftime up 50-35. In the second half, they kept the pressure on, putting up 21 points in the third quarter and 24 in the fourth, never giving their opponents a chance to claw back. The Leopards ultimately walked away with a 19-point victory.
Lin Hsin-Kuan led all scorers with 22 points to go with 5 rebounds and 3 assists. Wendall Lewis contributed 21 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks, while Chuang Po-Yuan chipped in 13 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. Wang Che-Yu also drilled 4 three-pointers on his way to 12 points.
The Leopards dished out 22 assists and generated momentum on both ends with 10 steals, while committing just 9 turnovers as a team. On defense, they held Nihon Tengu to just 8-of-41 shooting from beyond the arc—a mere 19.5% clip—which proved key to pulling away on the scoreboard.
This trip to Chengdu carried extra significance for the Leopards—after battling recurring knee injuries and a long rehabilitation process, Lu Chi-Er finally stepped back onto the official competition stage.
In his comeback game against the Sichuan Jincheng second team on August 17, Lu started and played 23 minutes and 50 seconds, going 4-of-7 on two-point attempts for 8 points. Some rust from his long layoff was inevitable, but he still showed his familiar drive to attack the basket, and the Leopards secured a 73-65 win.
A day later, facing Nihon Tengu with his minutes managed, Lu played 16 minutes and posted 4 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals with zero turnovers, finishing with a plus-9 rating. From readjusting to game intensity in his first outing to gradually finding a steadier rhythm in the second, the numbers matter less than the fact that he's able to stand on the court healthy once again.
Back in 2025, when discussing his injury in an interview, Lu Chi-Er said: "Basketball hasn't given up on me, so I won't give up on myself." Now, that statement has finally received its most concrete answer on the court in Chengdu.
A comeback isn't proven in a single game—it's built through every run, every collision, every shot taken all over again. For Lu Chi-Er, who waited so long for this moment, simply being able to wear jersey No. 72 on the court again is, beyond the victory itself, the image most worth remembering.
