Uni-President Lions outfielder Kuo Jung-yo outslugged Brother Elephants rookie catcher Fang Keh-wei by a 7-0 margin in the final to win this year’s Home Run Derby at the Taipei County Baseball Stadium in Sinjhuang last night.
It was the second time that the third-year slugger had made it into the long ball-bashing contest during the annual All-Star weekend and Kuo made sure it would be a memorable one by launching 15 balls over the leftfield wall on the night, including seven in the finals, to pocket the coveted Home Run Derby title as well as 20g of gold and NT$60,000 (US$1,870) in prize money.
Kuo’s march to the title began with just one home run in the preliminary round that featured 12 of the league’s top hitters. He was able to edge past two other players with one blast to advance to the next round as his lone homer came with fewer outs.
Once past the preliminaries, Kuo gradually got into a groove as he rumbled past the field of eight with a pair of long balls to earn a chance to take on La New Bears slugger and defending champion Lin Chih-sheng in the semi-final, in which he went deep five times compared with Lin’s lone homer to advance, setting the stage for a showdown against Fang.
“I don’t know what happed there, but I seemed to be able to find the sweet spot more often than not tonight,” Kuo said after the contest. “Beating him [Lin] was a big thrill for me.”
Even though Kuo has not hit a home run in a regular season game this year, his bat definitely had the power to send the ball over the outfield wall, as he wowed the crowd with blast after blast to emerge from nowhere and steal the spotlight from the star names on All-Star weekend.
The 2025 International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness (IFBB) Mr Universe Chinese Taipei competition began yesterday at Xinzhuang Gymnasium in New Taipei City, with more than 150 athletes showcasing their physiques. It is the first time in 16 years that the IFBB has held a competition in Taiwan, the last being the 2009 World Games in Kaohsiung. The professional bodybuilding contest is bringing together athletes from Taiwan and 16 other countries, including Malaysia, Japan, the US, France and Mexico. IFBB Chinese Taipei president Hsu An-chin said in an interview yesterday that the event came to Taiwan thanks to his lobbying efforts at last
Top seeds Alexander Zverev of Germany and American Coco Gauff on Tuesday advanced to the third round of the Canadian Open after both players were pushed hard by their opponents. World No. 3 Zverev, playing in his first match since his first-round loss at Wimbledon, was far from his best, but emerged with a 7-6 (8/6), 6-4 win over Adam Walton under the lights in Toronto. Momentum shifted firmly in Zverev’s favor when he won a 52-shot rally in the first set tiebreak and he sealed the win on a double fault by the Australian in the second set. “It was a very
Cycling great Marianne Vos won the opening stage of the women’s Tour de France with a brilliant late attack on Saturday. The 38-year-old Dutchwoman overtook her Visma–Lease a Bike teammate Pauline Ferrand-Prevot approaching the line, and then held off Mauritian rider Kim Le Court in the closing meters of a grueling uphill finish. Ferrand-Prevot looked set to win the stage, but the Frenchwoman attacked too early from 600m and could not withstand the late surge from Vos, who punched the air with her left fist as she crossed the line. Moments later, Vos hugged an exhausted-looking Ferrand-Prevot, the Paris-Roubaix winner. “I didn’t know if
TAIWANESE EXITS: Fellow Australian Christopher O’Connell joined Tristan Schoolkate as a winner following his 6-1, 6-2 defeat of Tseng Hsin-chun Australian qualifier Tristan Schoolkate on Monday dispatched rising Brazilian talent Joao Fonseca 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 at the ATP Toronto Masters, ensuring a breakthrough into the world top 100. The 24-year-old from Perth moved to 98th in the ongoing live rankings as he claimed his biggest career victory by knocking out the ATP NextGen champion from November last year. Schoolkate, son of a tennis coach, won his first match over a top-50 opponent on his sixth attempt as he ousted the world No. 49 teenager from Brazil. The qualifier played a quarter-final this month in Los Cabos and won through qualifying for his
RSS