The government will promote baseball by providing more incentives and encouragement to interested companies and public enterprises, Premier Liu Chao-shiuan said yesterday.
On a visit to the construction site of an international baseball stadium in Taoyuan County, Liu said baseball has always been the nation’s national sport and that in the future the government would provide incentives to encourage companies and military units to contribute to the sport’s growth.
Liu said the Sports Affairs Council has already developed a plan to stimulate development of the game, which includes offering companies, government organizations and military units incentives to help establish new baseball teams.
NEW TEAMS
“I’m happy that Taoyuan County is looking to establish a Taoyuan County aviation city baseball team,” Liu said, hoping that in the future local baseball fans would see the birth of even more new teams.
“With the cooperation of companies, government agencies and the military we expect to see the establishment of at least eight to 10 new teams in the near future,” Liu said.
AMATEUR OR PRO
Though Liu did not specify if the teams would compete at an amateur or professional level, he suggested that the creation of more teams would bring more fans to ballparks and add to the sport’s popularity.
Taoyuan County is currently building a new NT$980 million (US$28 million) baseball stadium on a 9.7-hectare plot close to Taiwan High Speed Rail’s Taoyuan Station.
Scheduled to be completed by the end of this year, the stadium will have 12,000 infield seats with room for the future construction of outfield stands.
After the stadium’s completion, Taoyuan County will be able to host national and international baseball tournaments.
While British star Jack Draper spent the past week trying to find rhythm and comfort in his first grass tournament of the season at the Queen’s Club Championships in London, Jiri Lehecka on Saturday bulldozed everything in his path. After more than two furious hours of battle, their form was reflected in the final scoreline as Lehecka toppled a frustrated Draper, the second seed, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 to reach the biggest final of his career, against Carlos Alcaraz. Lehecka is also the first Czech to reach the men’s title match at Queen’s since Ivan Lendl lifted the trophy in 1990. Draper, who
REUNION: Former Barcelona players Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba and Miami coach Javier Mascherano are to face their former coach Luis Enrique Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi faces a tantalizing reunion with former club Paris Saint-Germain in the FIFA Club World Cup last 16 after both sides on Monday progressed to the knockout phase. Miami drew 2-2 with Palmeiras to go through second in Group A, after the Brazilian side fought back from two goals down to seal top spot. They now face an all-Brazil clash against Botafogo, who lost 1-0 to Atletico Madrid, but progressed from Group B in second at the expense of the Spaniards. Champions of Europe PSG won the group with a 2-0 victory over Seattle Sounders, paving the
Dale Earnhardt Jr might already be NASCAR’s most popular crew chief. He is certainly an undefeated one. Pressed into unexpected service, Earnhardt on Saturday called the shots for 18-year-old prospect Connor Zilisch in the No. 88 Chevrolet, as they landed in victory lane in the second-tier Xfinity Series race at Pocono Raceway. “It felt good to have some input and decisionmaking power,” Earnhardt said. “And then helping Connor understand what our plan was so he knew when to push and what he was expected to do.” Earnhardt — who won NASCAR’s most-popular driver award 15 times — made a pit stop from his
Taiwanese women’s doubles star Hsieh Su-wei and Australian teenager Maya Joint on Tuesday eased into the Eastbourne Open quarter-finals in England as Hsieh prepares for the Wimbledon Championships next week. Four-time Wimbledon women’s doubles champion Hsieh and 19-year-old Joint fired two aces and converted five of eight break points to defeat Japan’s Shuko Aoyama and Poland’s Katarzyna Piter 6-3, 6-3 in 58 minutes on the grass court. Hsieh and Joint are today to face fourth seeds Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic and Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, who advanced on Monday with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Quinn Gleason of the US and