With 11 countries ready to compete with their respective national squads in central Taiwan, this year’s IBAF 21U Baseball World Cup starts at the Taichung Municipal Baseball Stadium in Greater Taichung this morning, with Venezuela squaring off against Nicaragua in an all-Latin American affair.
The 10-day tournament, which will be played in Douliou, an hour south of Greater Taichung, and Greater Taichung’s Intercontinental Baseball Stadium, is to host Groups A and B, with Taiwan and South Korea heading a field of six in Group A that also includes the Czech Republic, Italy, Mexico and New Zealand.
Japan and the Netherlands are to lead a five-team pool in Group B that includes Australia, Nicaragua and Venezuela.
Teams in each group will play round-robin preliminaries over the first five days of play, with the top three finishers earning berths to play in the super round-robin that will determine the teams to compete in the medal round later next week.
Leading the hosts in this year’s competition will be first-year head coach Kuo Lee Chien-fu, who took over the helm earlier in the year, knowing that the quest to keep the title in Taiwan will be a challenging one given the level of competition and the pool of talent that is expected in the tournament.
“It’s quite an honor to be able to represent Taiwan in this year’s event; we have an excellent group of young players who will do our best to make our country proud,” Kuo Lee said in the pre-tournament press conference last week.
He will leverage his experience as a player on Taiwan’s silver medal-winning squad in the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics and a member of the Hanshin Tigers of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball league (NPB) in the 1990s to its maximum to help guide the Taiwanese youngsters in this year’s play.
Leading the Taiwanese pitching rotation is to be starter Sung Chia-hao, who is coming fresh off the silver medal-winning team in this year’s Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, in September.
The right-hander for National Taiwan Sport University is to take the mound in the opener at the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium this evening, with the opening pitch scheduled for 7pm.
Taiwan are to play the Czech Republic in a day game tomorrow, followed by three straight night contests at the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium in against South Korea, New Zealand and Italy respectively.
After letting another big lead slip with an error-strewn performance at the French Open on Wednesday, top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka felt like getting as far away from the courts as possible. “Just want to quit tennis right now,” Sabalenka said after wasting a lead of a set and two breaks in a 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 loss to Diana Shnaider in the women’s singles quarter-finals. “We’ll see in few days. Hopefully I’ll get back on track mentally.” Sabalenka’s wait for a first French Open title continues despite the four-time major winner leading 4-1 in the second set and being two points from victory while
BIG NAMES GONE: Zverev is the clear favorite for a maiden Grand Slam title, reaching semi-finals for the fifth time in six years and finishing second on three occasions Alexander Zverev on Tuesday breezed past Rafael Jodar to stay on course for an elusive Grand Slam title at the French Open, while Jakub Mensik halted Joao Fonseca’s scintillating run in the quarter-finals. Zverev, the highest-ranked player left in the men’s draw, put an end to Spanish teenager Jodar’s impressive Roland Garros debut, easing into the semi-finals with a 7-6, (7/3), 6-1, 6-3 win. The 29-year-old Zverev is the clear favorite for a maiden Grand Slam title. He has finished runner-up on three occasions, including at the 2024 French Open. “I want to win the matches that are ahead of
For some, Cristiano Ronaldo remains the essential spearhead for Portugal’s FIFA World Cup bid, while others believe his presence would prevent Roberto Martinez’s strong side from flourishing. The debate around the five-time Ballon d’Or winner rages on, as it did at UEFA Euro 2024 and four years ago in Qatar — yet Ronaldo endures, ready to play in a record sixth World Cup. The 41-year-old remains a global superstar despite swapping the European elite for Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr, and is the leading men’s international goalscorer with 143 strikes. With 25 of those coming in 30 games under Martinez, the coach
Taiwanese sprinter Chen Yi-cen on Friday won the silver medal in the women’s 400m final at the Asian U20 Athletics Championships in Hong Kong, with a time of 53.16 seconds. Chen, 15, was the youngest among the eight finalists, and her performance also met the qualifying standard of 53.50 seconds for the Nagoya Asian Games in Japan in September and October. Chen first made her mark at the National Games in Tainan in 2023, at the age of 13, winning the women’s 400m final in 55.55 seconds to become the youngest gold medalist in the history of the event. Meanwhile,
RSS