Taiwan continued their dominance in this year’s World Port Baseball Tournament with victories over Cuba and Curacao at the Familiestadion in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, on Monday to improve to a 4-0 record.
In the day game of the day-night doubleheader, Taiwan humbled defending champions Cuba 3-1 thanks to a brilliant effort by starter Chen Kuan-ju, who went the distance for his team in a two-hit gem to deal the Cuba their second defeat of the tournament.
Other than a leadoff single to Cuba’s Rusney Castillo that led to the lone run in the game for Cuba, the southpaw out of Fu Jen Catholic University was virtually unhittable as he baffled the opposing hitters by changing his speed, with his sliders and changeups working flawlessly to complement his fastball.
“The offspeed pitches really worked well for me today,” Chen said after the game.
Offensively for Taiwan, Lin Han’s three-for-five hitting with an RBI led an attack that rang up nine hits against two hurlers. After being shut down by Cuba starter Yosvani Torres through the fourth, the Taiwanese bats finally came alive in the fifth with a run on three hits off Torres to tie the game at 1-1, before they skidded ahead in the seventh with another run on three more hits to take the lead for good.
“Talk about not having beaten the Netherlands for some time last Friday, I can’t remember ever beating Cuba,” Taiwan head coach Chen Wei-cheng said after the big win.
Curacao 1, Taiwan 7
In the night game of the doubleheader, Taiwan also found themselves trailing 0-1 after six innings of play, before erupting for seven unanswered runs to prevail in a 7-1 triumph.
Taiwan had several opportunities to score through the sixth, but failed to convert on each with runners being gunned down at the plate on two different occasions.
The poor luck finally ended when back-to-back hits by Huang Yi-kuen and Chen Wei-chih helped drive in the tying run in the seventh inning to set up a late-game scoring binge that sealed the win.
Lin Chen-hua entered the game one out into the seventh and he was credited with the win for his 2-2/3 innings of shutout relief, while the loss went to Curacao’s Caroll Servania.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
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
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping
Taiwan’s Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan on Saturday won the men’s doubles bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, after they were bested by the hosts in their semi-final. The Taiwanese shuttlers lost to China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, who advanced to yesterday’s final against Malaysia’s Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzudin. The Chinese pair outplayed Lee and Yang in straight games. Although the Taiwanese got off to a slow start in the first game, they eventually tied it 14-14, before Liang and Wang went on to blow past them to win 21-17. In the second game, Lee and