A Taiwanese little league team of 11 and 12-year-olds in the Bronco Division overcame stern challenges and a protest by hosts South Korea to win the Asia-Pacific title in Seoul, thereby earning the right to represent the region at the world championships next month.
The Taiwanese team is comprised of students from Kaohsiung elementary schools, who defeated Taitung County students 19-5 in the final of the national competition in May.
In the Asia-Pacific semi-final on Monday morning, they faced South Korea B and the teams were deadlocked at 3-3 after the regulation seven innings.
Photo: courtesy of the Chinese Taipei Baseball Association
Still tied in extra innings, Taiwan had a player caught in a rundown, who seemed to get tagged out, but head coach Yen Meng-chan queried the call, arguing that the South Korean fielder made the tag with his glove while holding the ball in his other hand, and the umpires agreed to reverse the ruling.
The decision incensed the South Korea coaches, who protested vigorously before walking off, and the game was abandoned. The umpires awarded Taiwan a 7-0 win, as per international regulations.
In the final against South Korea A on Monday afternoon, both sides fought to a 5-5 draw after seven innings.
In extra innings, relief pitcher Wang Tien-hsin let his bat do the talking by hitting a grand slam homer to win the game 9-5 as Taiwan advanced to the Bronco World Series tournament in Los Alamitos, California, in the first week of next month.
“We told our kids to have no fear when facing the stronger South Korean teams, that they have the extra fighting spirit,” Yen said. “They did that and we managed to beat the hosts in very difficult circumstances.”
Meanwhile, the Chinese Taipei Baseball Association (CTBA) has banned three coaches at Taoyuan’s Ping Jen High School for a year for “violating the spirit of the sport” during the little league Asia-Pacific playoffs for under-18s in Nanjing, China, earlier this month.
After reviewing video footage, CTBA officials said there was evidence to indicate that the school’s players deliberately “under-performed” in a loss to the Philippines on July 7, a result which knocked China out of the competition by elevating the Philippines to second place.
Taiwan eventually defeated both China and the Philippines to win the regional title, but the hosts lodged a protest, which tarnished the image of Taiwanese baseball, the CTBA said.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB