Team Taiwan shut out Venezuela 3-0 in their third game of the women’s softball preliminaries at the Fengtai Softball Field last night.
Taiwan’s Wu Chia-yen pitched 4.1 innings for three hits and three strikeouts. Her compatriot Chueh Ming-hui had two strikeouts over 2.2 innings.
Earlier yesterday, thunderstorms suspended the US-Canada softball game yesterday at the Olympics, putting the Americans’ lengthy winning streak on hold for a day.
The US was trailing 1-0 in the fourth inning at Fengtai Softball Stadium. The teams will resume play today following the US-Japan game, which begins at noon local time.
Canada will play China earlier, and then will have to wait around to play the Americans, who have won 16 straight at the Olympics and are seeking their fourth gold medal in softball’s last swing in the Games until at least 2016.
After posting shutouts and no-hitters in its first two games in China, and blanking 10 of its past 11 opponents in the Olympics, the Americans found themselves in an unusual spot in the first inning: behind.
Following a bizarre inning that featured controversy and an error, the US trailed Canada 1-0, its first deficit since the gold-medal game at Sydney in 2000.
The Canadians scored a run without a hit when Monica Abbott was called for three illegal pitches by Italian third-base umpire Gianluca Magnani. He ruled that her left, push-off foot was not over the rubber when she began her delivery.
Abbott had retired leadoff hitter Melanie Matthews on a comebacker on her first pitch. But Magnani yelled “illegal pitch,” and Matthews was given another crack at the left-hander. She then hit a fly ball — Magnani called a second illegal pitch as Matthews connected — to deep center that Caitlin Lowe dropped.
If the illegal pitches weren’t strange enough, Lowe’s error was perhaps more bizarre. It was her first error in 123 games since joining the US team in 2005.
In yesterday’s other games, Australia (1-2) got its first win of the tournament, 3-1 over China (2-1).
In the evening session, Japan (3-0) stayed unbeaten with a 3-0 win over the Netherlands (0-3).
Taiwan’s top women’s badminton doubles duo, Hsieh Pei-shan (謝沛珊) and Hung En-tzu (洪恩慈), achieved a straight-sets victory over Japan’s Kaho Osawa and Mayui Tanabe at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Super 300 Macau Open on Sunday. The Taiwanese pair won the final 21-18, 21-12, marking the duo’s second title this year after their win at the BWF Super 300 Taipei Open in May. The match on Sunday was their first encounter with the Japanese duo, ranked No. 63 in the world. Hsieh and Hung, ranked No. 12, began the opening game well. Hung, who plays left-handed, performed strongly at both the net and the
Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko upset top-seeded Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-4 on Saturday night to reach the National Bank Open quarter-finals. “Your support was incredible,” Mboko told the crowd in French after a chorus of “Ole, Ole, Ole” chants echoed around the venue. “I’m really happy to win today ... It’s incredible. I’m so happy to beat such a great champion.” Gauff dropped to 2-3 since winning the French Open. She followed the major victory with opening losses in Berlin and Wimbledon, then overcame double-fault problems to win two three-set matches in Montreal. Gauff had five double-faults on Saturday after having 23 in
Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen on Thursday said that he is staying with the Red Bull team next year, ending months of speculation over his future. “Some people just like to stir the pot, some people just like to create drama, but, for me, it’s always been quite clear, and also for next year,” the four-time champion said ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix. “I’m discussing with the team already the plans — the things that we want to change for next year, so that means that I’m also staying with the team for next year,” he said. Verstappen has a contract with
Alex Michelsen on Thursday rallied for a 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 upset victory over third-seeded Lorenzo Musetti in the men’s singles, converting his seventh match point to reach the fourth round of the Canadian Open. Michelsen reached the last 16 of a Masters 1000 for the first time with his second win over a top-10 player in eight attempts. The 20-year-old American survived nearly 50 unforced errors and converted just two of nine break chances, but it was enough to vanquish Italy’s Musetti, a two-time Grand Slam semi-finalist ranked 10th in the world. “It feels really good,” the 26th-ranked Michelsen said. “I’ve put
RSS