Lamigo Monkeys outfielder Chung “Yo-Yo Man” Cheng-yo unloaded nine bombs over the leftfield wall against Uni-President Lion slugger Kao Guo-ching’s five in the finals to run away with the title in this year’s Home Run Derby at the Sinjhuang Baseball Stadium in New Taipei City last night.
The long-ball specialist out of the National Taiwan Sport University — whose list of distinguished alumni include current Major League pitcher Chen Wei-ying (the Baltimore Orioles) and former big leaguer Hu Chin-lung (the New York Mets) — became the first player in league history to defend the title in the Home Run Derby by taking five of the first eight pitches he faced to tie Kao’s mark, before settling with nine on the night to keep the winner’s bat for the second straight year.
“Wow, it’s hard to believe that no one has done it before. I’d like to thank coach Lin for feeding me some great pitches tonight,” Chung said after the event.
It was Lamigo Monkeys assistant coach Lin Chen-sheng who helped him win the event a year ago as well.
“Coach Lin did a great job in guiding me with his pitches, so all I had to do was follow his lead,” Chung explained after the home run-bashing contest.
Along with a stunning winner’s trophy and a winner’s bat, Chung also pocketed NT$100,000 in prize money. He also raised a total of 50 grams of pure gold for a local charity and donated NT$30,000 of his winnings to show his kind side off the field.
Chung’s quest for the repeat began with three blasts against the Brother Elephants’ Chang Min-yen’s one in the preliminary round, which featured 12 of the league’s top long-ball hitters in this year’s contest.
Then came the match against the Lions’ Deng Chih-wei, who fell short to Chung by a 12-3 margin to send the defending champ into the third round, where he needed only a pair of home runs to edge past teammate Hung Chen-yu to set up the rematch of last year’s contest against Kao.
Kao took the plate first as the challenger by grinding out five shots over the outfield wall to set the bar for Chung, which took the eventual champ only eight swings to match.
“When you are up against someone like [Chung], there is really not much I can do,” a humble Kao said after the contest.
Taiwan’s top women’s badminton doubles duo, Hsieh Pei-shan (謝沛珊) and Hung En-tzu (洪恩慈), achieved a straight-sets victory over Japan’s Kaho Osawa and Mayui Tanabe at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Super 300 Macau Open on Sunday. The Taiwanese pair won the final 21-18, 21-12, marking the duo’s second title this year after their win at the BWF Super 300 Taipei Open in May. The match on Sunday was their first encounter with the Japanese duo, ranked No. 63 in the world. Hsieh and Hung, ranked No. 12, began the opening game well. Hung, who plays left-handed, performed strongly at both the net and the
Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko upset top-seeded Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-4 on Saturday night to reach the National Bank Open quarter-finals. “Your support was incredible,” Mboko told the crowd in French after a chorus of “Ole, Ole, Ole” chants echoed around the venue. “I’m really happy to win today ... It’s incredible. I’m so happy to beat such a great champion.” Gauff dropped to 2-3 since winning the French Open. She followed the major victory with opening losses in Berlin and Wimbledon, then overcame double-fault problems to win two three-set matches in Montreal. Gauff had five double-faults on Saturday after having 23 in
Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen on Thursday said that he is staying with the Red Bull team next year, ending months of speculation over his future. “Some people just like to stir the pot, some people just like to create drama, but, for me, it’s always been quite clear, and also for next year,” the four-time champion said ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix. “I’m discussing with the team already the plans — the things that we want to change for next year, so that means that I’m also staying with the team for next year,” he said. Verstappen has a contract with
Alex Michelsen on Thursday rallied for a 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 upset victory over third-seeded Lorenzo Musetti in the men’s singles, converting his seventh match point to reach the fourth round of the Canadian Open. Michelsen reached the last 16 of a Masters 1000 for the first time with his second win over a top-10 player in eight attempts. The 20-year-old American survived nearly 50 unforced errors and converted just two of nine break chances, but it was enough to vanquish Italy’s Musetti, a two-time Grand Slam semi-finalist ranked 10th in the world. “It feels really good,” the 26th-ranked Michelsen said. “I’ve put
RSS