In a light breeze and with a dash of central Taiwan’s unbeatable hospitality, Pool B of this year’s World Baseball Classic is set to open this afternoon with the Taiwanese national team hosting Australia at the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium.
With the opening pitch scheduled for 12:30pm and a sellout crowd of 20,000-plus expected to stand behind the home team, the hosts are looking to start this year’s tournament in grand fashion. The top two finishers will earn a visit to Tokyo in the second round for a chance to advance into the championship round in San Francisco, California.
In an effort to improve on their disappointing outing in the first round of the 2009 Classic, Taiwan have stacked up their pool of talent. Two former Major Leaguer, Wang Chien-ming and Kuo Hong-chih, and potential outfield game-breakers Yang Dai-kang (Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters of Japan’s NPB) and Lin Che-hsuan (Houston Astros prospect), are to join the very best of Taiwan’s own Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) in a bid to make sure this year’s squad will be playing ball in Tokyo, and perhaps in San Francisco later this month.
Standing in Taiwan’s way for a top-two finish will undoubtedly be South Korea and the Netherlands, who have fared better than the hosts in recent international competitions.
Several Major League-caliber players helped earn South Korea the gold medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2010 Asian Games, and the Dutch back-to-back silver medals in the 2006 and 2010 Intercontinental Cup.
Even though South Korea will not have the services of current Major Leaguers Choo Shin-soo (Cincinnati Reds) and Ryu Hyun-jin (Los Angeles Dodgers), skipper Ryu Chung-il should be more than well-equipped with a solid pitching staff led by 17 game-winner Jang Won-sam of the Seoul Heroes of the KBO and closer Oh Seung-hwan of the Samsung Lions.
As for the Netherlands, winners of five of the past seven European Baseball Championships, manager Hensley Meulens’ lineup includes former NPB home run champ Wladmir Balentien and former New York Yankee Andruw Jones (born in Curacao), who can light up the scoreboard with finesse and power.
Each of the four teams in Pool B will play in a round-robin in the next four days, before the top two are determined by means of the highest winning percentage.
The Greek basketball league finals between Panathinaikos and Olympiakos were suspended by the government on Monday following on-court scuffles involving rival security teams. The best-of-five series is at 1-1. The third game, scheduled for today, has been postponed. The owners of both clubs were summoned to meet with the country’s sports minister. They “will be asked to provide explicit guarantees that this situation will be brought to an end. If not, this year’s championship will be definitively canceled,” government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said. “There can be no tolerance for such pathological phenomena of violence and delinquency.” In online posts, the owners of Panathinaikos and
The Crusaders yesterday produced a clinical performance in difficult conditions to beat the Queensland Reds 32-12 and claim home advantage in next week’s Super Rugby semi-finals. Lock Scott Barrett and prop Tamaiti Williams scored first-half tries to reward an outstanding performance from the Crusaders’ forwards in wet, slippery conditions and bitterly cold temperatures. Scrumhalf Noah Hotham defied the conditions in the second half to score a superb solo try and, after kicking a conversion and penalty to make the score 22-0 at the hour mark, flyhalf Rivez Reihana scored a try which took the game beyond the Reds. “Typical Christchurch weather, cold, wet
Ryan Yarbrough picked up a dazzling World Series ring from his time with the Los Angeles Dodgers last season. Then he went out and beat them. The New York Yankees starter on Sunday pitched one-run ball over six innings, struck out a season-high five and blanked the Dodgers’ top four hitters in a 7-3 win. “I feel like I’m in a really good place right now and really trying to continue that,” Yarbrough said. “I’m having a lot of fun.” The 33-year-old left-hander made 44 relief appearances between the Dodgers and Blue Jays last season. The Dodgers designated him for assignment on July
Spain starlets Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams dazzled on Thursday as La Roja beat France 5-4 in a thriller in Stuttgart, Germany, to set up a UEFA Nations League final with Portugal. Yamal bagged a brace, while Williams scored and provided an assist as the two wingers cut France’s makeshift defense to ribbons. Mikel Merino and Pedri were also on the score sheet for the UEFA Euro 2024 champions. Kylian Mbappe netted a second-half penalty, but Spain were 5-1 up and cruising, before Les Bleus suddenly woke up as their opponents took their foot off the pedal. France’s three late goals — a
RSS