BASEBALL
Chen to start in opener
Miami Marlins manager Don Mattingly on Sunday named Taiwanese left-hander Chen Wei-yin as their opening game starting pitcher for this year’s MLB season. Chen is to take the mound in a season opener for the first time in his North American career when the National League Marlins host the American League’s Detroit Tigers on April 5. The 30-year-old southpaw signed a five-year deal worth US$80 million with Miami in the off-season after spending his first four North American seasons with the American League’s Baltimore Orioles. Chen, the Orioles’ first player from Taiwan, went 11-8 with a 3.34 ERA last season and overall in Baltimore was 46-32 with a 3.72 ERA and 547 strikeouts. Chen played for Taiwan in the 2004 and 2008 Olympics and spent eight seasons with the Japan League’s Chunichi Dragons from 2004 through 2011.
BASEBALL
Ball strikes Liriano in face
Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Rymer Liriano was stretchered off and taken to a hospital after being struck a horrifying blow to the face while batting against Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Matt West in a pre-season game on Sunday. West’s pitch in the eighth inning struck Liriano flush on the left side of his face, just below the brim of his batting helmet and he crumpled to the ground, his arms and legs flailing. Team trainers and medical staff tended him before he was immobilized then driven off the field to a waiting ambulance and taken to a hospital. “Rymer Liriano suffered multiple facial fractures during today’s game and will remain in the hospital for further testing and observation,” the Brewers wrote on Twitter late on Sunday. Earlier, Brewers manager Craig Counsell had said that Liriano was conscious, but added: “It’s serious. He got hit in the head. I can’t give you many details.”
ATHLETICS
Kotlyarova fails drug test
Russian 400m runner Nadezhda Kotlyarova said she has tested positive for the banned substance meldonium. Kotlyarova tells Russia’s Tass agency that she failed a drug test at last month’s Russian indoor championships and is protesting her innocence. She said the spate of positive tests for the endurance-boosting meldonium, which was added to the banned list from Jan. 1, is “injustice,” adding that she intends “to see this situation out to the end.” Kotlyarova, 26, raced at last year’s world championships in Beijing, reaching the semi-finals, and was also part of the Russian relay team that won silver in the 4x400m at the 2013 European indoor championships.
CRICKET
Bangladesh appeal ban
Bangladesh have appealed to cricket’s world governing body to lift the suspension on paceman Taskin Ahmed, who was ruled out of the ongoing World Twenty20 in India due to an illegal action. Taskin and left-arm spinner Arafat Sunny were on Saturday suspended from bowling in international cricket after being reported by match officials following Bangladesh’s qualifying match against the Netherlands in Dharamsala, India, on March 9. While Sunny’s elbow extension for the majority of his deliveries exceeded the 15o limit, not all of Taskin’s balls were found to be legal, the International Cricket Council said while announcing their suspensions. Bangladesh, who came through the qualifiers to reach the Super 10 stage, lost to Pakistan in their opening Group Two match on Wednesday last week.
Aaliyah Edwards on Monday pulled off the stunner of the opening round of the Unrivaled one-on-one tournament, beating top-seeded Breanna Stewart 12-0. The tournament to be played over three days featured 23 of the WNBA’s 36 players. A few had other commitments and a couple others were out with injuries. Stewart got the ball first against Edwards and missed a contested layup. Edwards then hit a three-pointer from the corner and a jumper from the elbow to go up 5-0. The player who scores keeps the basketball. Edwards hit two layups and a three-pointer to seal the win. Stewart, a two-time WNBA Most Valuable Player,
SPEEDSKATER: Her bronze medal ended Taiwan’s run at the Asian Winter Games without a medal since the nation first participated in the second iteration in 1990 Speedskater Chen Ying-chu yesterday made history as the first athlete representing Taiwan to secure a medal at the Asian Winter Games. Competing at the HIC Speedskating Oval in Harbin, China, Chen clocked 10.510 seconds in the women’s 100m event, finishing third behind South Koreans Lee Na-hyum and Kim Min-sun, who posted times of 10.501 and 10.505 seconds respectively. Her bronze medal ended Taiwan’s drought at the Asian Winter Games since the nation first participated in the second iteration in 1990. This year’s Games mark Chen’s debut at the event. Previously excelling in roller speedskating, she won six medals at world championships before transitioning
Taiwan’s Lin Yun-ju and Kao Cheng-jui were defeated by their Chinese counterparts 3-0 on Saturday in the men’s doubles final at the World Table Tennis (WTT) Singapore Smash. Lin and Kao received their silver medals after being defeated by third-seeded duo Lin Shidong and Wang Chuqin of China 2-11, 4-11, 11-13. The Taiwan pair were left playing catch-up early in the match after the Chinese duo proved unstoppable in the first and second game. Although Lin and Kao picked up their pace in the third game and at one point took a 10-8 lead, they were crucially unable to take
Australia yesterday won two of four races on the first day of the SailGP Sydney event on Sydney Harbour to finish the day atop the points table ahead of Britain and a French team who made an outstanding return after missing the first two events of the season. Australia also had a third and a second placing, finishing the day with 37 points, ahead of Britain with 32 points and France with 27. Britain won the second race of the day and Switzerland, who won the first race, were in fourth place overall. Australia’s prowess in the start box was again the