Taiwan was neutralized by Cuba in the semifinals of the World University Baseball Championships yesterday in Italy.
Cuba's victory meant that it was paired with arch rival the US in the final yesterday, after it beat Japan 2-1 in the other semifinal.
Taiwan had rolled over Italy 14-3 for its spot in the semifinals, but was topped by the Cubans 2-0 and was to face Japan yesterday in the third-place playoff.
Cuba was too strong in all departments for Taiwan, as Pedro Jose Rodriguez hit a two-run home run to give Cuba all the offense it needed. Leslie Anderson had earlier reached first on a base hit.
Alain Soler was the winning pitcher for Cuba, striking out five while allowing just five hits.
In the match against the US, Japan went ahead 1-0 in the second inning on a pair of base hits.
Aaron Hill got things started for the US in the sixth inning, hitting a solo home run off pitcher Tsuyoshi Wada.
The US continued its rally as Michael Aubrey and Conor Jackson combined to drive in another as the US came back from a run down.
Cuba manager Lourdes Gurriel said he was not frightened by the prospect of meeting a team from the US, which beat Cuba in the gold medal game at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
``We know that our chances are good,'' he said.
In other news, Taiwan defeated the US 4-3 to advance to the finals of the World Junior Baseball Championships in Canada. Taiwan will face Cuba in the final.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but