Six unanswered runs over the latter half of the game saw Taiwan overcome a 0-4 deficit and rally to claim a 6-4 victory over previously undefeated Cuba in the final game of the preliminaries of the World Baseball Challenge at Citizen Field in Prince George, Canada, yesterday morning.
Back-to-back RBI singles by Hsiao Po-ting and Kuo Ming-jen with two outs in the top of the eighth broke a four-all tie to give Taiwan the lead.
Closer Hsieh Jung-hao ably protected the advantage with a scoreless eighth and ninth to preserve Taiwan’s thrilling win over a potent Cuba squad.
However, the victory did not propel Taiwan over Cuba in the final standings of the preliminaries because the latter hold a slight advantage according to the tiebreaker rules as both teams have a 5-1 record.
Nevertheless, the win did serve as proof that the “Red Lightning of the Caribbean” are beatable and gave Taiwan a big confidence boost.
Unlike their three previous games, in which the hitters dominated early and often, Taiwan trailed Cuba 4-0 after being held scoreless through the first five innings of play by starter Dachel Duquesne, despite belting four hits off the right-hander over the same span.
However, the scoring drought ended in spectacular fashion as the Taiwan offense finally broke through in the top of the sixth when Huang Chia-wei reached first safely on a hit batsman, then took third on a straight steal and a single by Wang Po-jung, before scoring on a wild pitch by Duquesne that made it 4-1.
That led to a three-run seventh for Taiwan as Lin Wang-wei opened the inning with a rare triple off Duquesne and scored on a single by Hsiao Po-ting in the ensuing play.
Lin Han tied the game up with a two-run home run that chased the Cuban starter to set up go-ahead runs in the eighth.
Picking up the win was reliever Fan Meng-chen, who tossed a scoreless sixth and seventh on a lone hit to beat his counterpart, Rabi Vadir, who allowed the game-winning runs in the eighth.
Next up for Taiwan in the semi-finals will be third-placed Japan, who also rallied from behind with a five-run eighth to best Canada in their final preliminary game earlier in the day.
Top-seeded Cuba were to take on the fourth-seeded US in the other semi-final before the winners battle for the title today.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care