Taiwan’s Olympic softball team needs to overcome some formidable opponents to win a medal at the Beijing Olympics, but if it fails in its quest, it won’t be for lack of preparation.
Since a disappointing sixth place finish in the Athens Games in 2004, the team has committed itself to doing better this time around and leaving a shining legacy if softball’s brief history as an Olympic sport indeed ends in Beijing.
It is due to be eliminated from the Olympic schedule in 2012, and while the sport’s officials are desperately trying to get it reinstated for the 2016 Games, there is no guarantee of success.
If chemistry counts for anything in the sport, Taiwan should have a chance. Under the captaincy of veteran pitcher Lai Sheng-jung, a starter converted to Taiwan’s bullpen ace for the Beijing Games, the players are as close-knit as they have ever been.
Many in the team have been based at the National Sports Training Center in Kaohsiung City’s Zuoying District for the past three years.
RIGORS
The team is also now playing practice games in Taiwan based on their scheduled day-to-day game times in the Olympic tournament to get used to the rigors of the competition, before leaving next week.
Add to that high altitude training to get the players in peak shape and the hiring of two foreign coaches and two male pitchers from the Philippines to help the team improve its skills, and Taiwan feels it is ready to contend for a spot on the medals’ podium.
But Taiwan manager Chang Chia-hsing admits winning a medal will be difficult, as the three favorites going into the eight-team tournament — the US, Japan and Australia — are, in his opinion, a cut above the others.
Chang says Taiwan, host China and Canada are evenly matched in the second tier, all hoping to reach the semi-final medal round by finishing in the top four in the preliminary round robin.
Taiwan will have to beat Venezuela and the Netherlands, the two weaker teams in the draw according to Chang, if it has any hope of contending for a medal and then hope to outlast China and Canada.
COMEBACK WIN
Taiwan snatched the silver medal from China at the Asian Games in Doha in December 2006 with a comeback 10-7 win in the tournament’s semi-final, but defeating the Chinese on their own turf may be a tall order.
“Winning a medal in Beijing will be even more difficult than winning one in Athens four years ago. Canada and China have already successfully brought new blood into their lineups and are much stronger than they were at the last Olympic Games,” Chang said.
Fourteen of the fifteen players who competed in Doha are on the Olympic roster, and Chang hopes their experience will make a difference in the pressure-packed Games.
During last month’s Canada Cup, which served as an Olympic warm-up of sorts despite the absence of the US national team and China, Taiwan’s pitching staff was unable to hold back Japan, Australia, and Canada, yielding at least six runs to all three teams in decisive 6-1, 6-1, and 8-3 losses respectively.
Chinese Taipei Amateur Softball Association secretary-general Mou Cheng said Taiwan held back its best pitchers during those games, so the difference may not be as wide as the margins of defeat indicated.
But if Taiwan suffers a repeat performance in Beijing, the team’s medal hopes will be shot, especially since it opens the tournament against Canada on Aug. 12 and Japan on Aug. 13, two games that could very well determine its fate.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
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