A Taiwanese baseball fan died of a heart attack as his side suffered what was widely considered a humiliating defeat to China in the Olympic baseball competition, local media reported yesterday.
The 74-year-old pensioner from Kaohsiung — identified only by his surname, Huang — had been a baseball fan all his life and never missed a game on TV, the Central News Agency (CNA) said.
Hopes had been high for a medal as baseball is Taiwan’s
national sport, while China began training players only five years ago, and Huang — like all Taiwanese — expected an easy win over China.
But in Friday’s game, China put up a strong defense and the game was tied 3-3 in the 10th inning, leading to extra innings which China went on to win 8-7 as the tension and frustration built up.
As the TV pictures showed the Chinese spectators jump and scream with joy at the Wukesong Baseball Field 2, Huang breathed his last, CNA said.
■USA 5, CANADA 4
AP, BEIJING
Terry Tiffee doubled in the go-ahead run and Brian Barden homered and hit a tying RBI double as the US rallied from a four-run deficit for a 5-4 Olympic baseball victory over Canada yesterday.
Brian Duensing retired 10 of the final 11 batters of the game for the win as the Americans turned a one-run result in their favor for a change. They lost their opener 8-7 to South Korea and then a demoralizing 5-4, 11-inning defeat to defending champion Cuba on Friday.
Their medal hopes seemed to be in serious jeopardy when trailing 4-0. The US team (2-2) must be among the top four clubs in the tournament to have a chance of reaching the medal stand.
“We’ve played a lot of tight ballgames,” said third base coach Rick Eckstein. “There’s no question we’ve been tested in so many ways so far this tournament. We’ve responded. I like what I’m seeing: their heart and character.”
After games against China and Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday, the US must face medal favorite and 2006 World Baseball Classic champion Japan on Wednesday night.
Inter’s defense of their Italian Serie A title was hit with a setback on Sunday as they lost 1-0 at home to AS Roma, while Scott McTominay netted a brace as SSC Napoli beat Torino 2-0 to go top of the table. No fixtures were played on Friday or Saturday because of the funeral of Pope Francis in Rome, meaning the full round of Serie A matches took place on Sunday and yesterday. Matias Soule’s first-half strike for Roma knocked Inter off top spot earlier in the day before new Napoli opened up a three-point buffer with victory in Sunday’s
Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa yesterday set a women’s only world record of 2 hours, 15 minutes, 50 seconds as she won the London Marathon, while Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe put a star-studded men’s field to the sword. For 28-year-old Assefa it was ample compensation for finishing runner-up in London and the Paris Olympics last year — especially as bitter Dutch rival, the Ethiopia-born Sifan Hassan, finished third. Assefa dropped Kenya’s Joyciline Jepkosgei as the race, played out in blazing sunshine and with thousands lining the route, entered its business end. She came home almost three minutes clear of the Kenyan. Hassan, who beat her in
FOCUS: ‘We came out here with a goal in mind ... to keep our foot on their throat and on their neck, and continue to play 48 minutes of basketball,’ Donovan Mitchell said The Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday thrashed the Miami Heat to cruise into the next round of the NBA playoffs as the Golden State Warriors battled past the Houston Rockets 109-106 to move to the brink of a series victory. After pounding Miami 124-87 in game three on Saturday, No.1 Eastern Conference seeds Cleveland once again piled on the misery for their outclassed opponents with a crushing 138-83 victory to complete a 4-0 series win. The 55-point drubbing was the largest series-clinching victory in NBA playoff history and sets up a series against either the Indiana Pacers or Milwaukee Bucks in
Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds said it felt like an “impossible dream” when fellow Hollywood A-lister Rob McElhenney first floated the idea of buying soccer club Wrexham, along with a pitch for a documentary. The ultimate goal was reaching the Premier League. Four years after they purchased the north Wales outfit, Wrexham are one league away from achieving their lofty goal after a 3-0 win over Charlton Athletic on Saturday saw them promoted for a record third consecutive time. “We were standing there doing a press conference four years ago, and said our goal is to make it to the Premier League, and
RSS