More than 10,000 screaming fans are expected to flock to the Taipei Municipal Baseball Stadium in Tianmu this afternoon as the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) opens its 23rd season with a showdown between the Uni-President Lions and the Brother Elephants at 5:05 pm.
The highly anticipated rematch of the 2009 Taiwan Series that saw the Lions rally from a 2-3 deficit to blow past the Elephants with back-to-back victories in Game 6 and Game 7 will feature a pair of fresh starting arms as the Lions send newcomer Jon Leicester to the mound to take on local rookie sensation Lin Yu-ching of the Elephants.
“It’s a dream come true for me to be able to start off the season for my favorite team,” Lin said during the opening day press conference at the Brother Hotel in Taipei yesterday afternoon.
Photo: CNA
Lin has been an Elephant fan all his life and will try to give his club a leg up on the rest of the league with a good start this afternoon.
“You’d think that we would go with a more experienced player to start the season, but [Lin] is really our best starter at this moment, with the foreigner [Leicester] still trying to adjust to our system,” Elephants manager Chen Rei-chen said about his decision to start a rookie.
Leading the offense for the Elephants will be team icon Peng “Chia Chia” Cheng-min, who hopes to celebrate his multiyear contract that includes a guaranteed NT$500,000 a month with a promising season at the plate.
The Big Cats, who went through an eventful offseason with veteran manager Lu Wen-sheng abruptly stepping down after he admitted to tipping off sports gamblers prior to games, will look to put their woes behind them.
Replacing Lu on an interim basis will be Terushi Nakashima of Japan, who could not wait for the season to begin in order to put the off-field distractions behind him.
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Roger Federer on Wednesday said that staying involved with tennis in retirement helped him avoid feeling “like an alien” ahead of this week’s Laver Cup in Berlin. Federer, who helped create the tournament, retired at the Laver Cup in London two years ago and has since stayed involved with the competition as an ambassador. “I’m happy I went back right away to some tournaments,” the 43-year-old told reporters. “I feel I ripped the Band-Aid off quite quickly and when I walk around the tennis sites I still feel I belong there,” he said. “I don’t feel like an alien, which is a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two