Rising numbers of COVID-19 infections have led to much disruption for the nation’s major sports leagues and to Taiwanese fans seeing masked baseball players at bat for the first time in history, while most soccer matches were postponed at the weekend due to players testing positive for the virus.
Only one CPBL game was played over the weekend, which saw the Rakuten Monkeys pummel the Uni-President Lions 7-2 in Tainan on Sunday.
While most cancelations in the past week have been due to the weather, there have also been contests postponed due to players testing positive for COVID-19.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times
With 99 percent of domestic infections being mild or asymptomatic, baseball games have continued, but new regulations are now in place at ballparks.
Fans must wear a mask at all times, except when eating or drinking in their seat as the concession stands remain in business. They must maintain social distancing at all times, and their temperature is taken and their hands disinfected on arrival, CPBL officials said.
Rakuten Monkeys head coach Tseng “Totoro” Hao-chu told reporters that when the number of infections began to rise last month the club acted quickly.
“We were the first to act, mandating regular PCR [polymerase chain reaction] tests, wearing a mask in the changing room and dugout, and telling players to minimize dining out and going to public places, and reducing contact with people outside of their family,” Tseng said.
Other instructions included requiring players to wear masks when talking to their teammates and officials, curtailing contact with opposition team members before and after games, and also banning all food takeout orders, with the club providing all the players’ meals and drinks, he said.
“I remind the players about these instructions every few games to make sure they don’t forget,” Tseng said.
It is to protect themselves, to keep in good health, to safeguard their families, and to protect fellow players and coaches. So far everyone has had the self-discipline to follow the rules,” he added.
At games in the past week, players have been seen wearing a mask when coming out to bat, even though the CPBL has not made it compulsory.
After Sunday’s game, when Tseng’s Monkeys racked up their seventh consecutive victory, the club topped the standings with 19 wins from 26 outings, 4.5 games ahead of the CTBC Brothers in second spot, who have 14 wins from 25 games.
At the opposite end of the standings, the Fubon Guardians have lost 22 out of 26 games to set a CPBL record for worst win-lose ratio at the start of a season.
They have suffered six straight defeats and are already 15.5 games behind the leaders.
The Wei Chuan Dragons in third spot have been the team most affected by the virus outbreak, playing only two of 10 scheduled games since May 1 due to players testing positive.
Four pitchers and a coach at the Uni-President Lions have tested positive in the past week, while head coach Lin Yue-ping is in isolation due to having contact with those who tested positive, although the team still intend to play their five scheduled contests this week, despite having a depleted lineup.
SOCCER WOES
In the Taiwan Football Premier League, the only action at the weekend saw Hang Yuan score a late equalizer to grab a point from a 1-1 draw with Leopard Cat in New Taipei City on Sunday, while the other two scheduled matches were postponed due to teams being hit by positive cases.
The women’s cup final that was due to take place on Saturday was also postponed.
Leopard Cat Burkinabe forward Ben Ouedraogo scored the opener in the first half and they led until stoppage-time when South Korean striker Joo Ik-seong netted the equalizer.
Taiwan’s Lee Hao-yu on Friday went 0-for-3 in his MLB debut for the Detroit Tigers against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, becoming the 19th Taiwan-born player to reach the big leagues. The Tigers ultimately lost 1-0 in 10 innings, ending their six-game winning streak. The 23-year-old started at third base and batted eighth for Detroit. He was promoted from Triple-A Toledo ahead of the four-game series against the Red Sox at the latter’s home stadium, replacing injured utility player Zach McKinstry. “Being right-handed, and given our schedule, I think six of the next 12 games are going to
Matheus Cunha on Saturday fired Manchester United toward the UEFA Champions League with a 1-0 win at Chelsea, while Tottenham Hotspur remain in the relegation zone after twice blowing the lead to draw with Brighton & Hove Albion. Chelsea failed to take advantage of a United defense ravaged by injury and suspension as a fourth straight league defeat for the Blues left their Champions League hopes in ruins. United have missed out on the riches of Europe’s elite competition for the past two seasons, but are closing in on a return thanks to an upturn in fortunes under interim manager
Denmark’s double Olympic badminton champion Viktor Axelsen, long a rival of Taiwan’s former world No. 2 Chou Tien-chen, yesterday announced his retirement at age 32, saying back problems meant he could no longer “compete and train at the highest level.” Axelsen, who won gold at the Tokyo Games in 2021 and again in Paris in 2024, had back surgery in April last year and said he had not overcome his physical issues. “Accepting this situation has been incredibly difficult,” he said in a statement. “But I have now reached a point where my body won’t allow me to continue.” Axelsen retires as one
Italian soccer is at its lowest ebb in nearly 40 years after a wholesale European exodus at club level followed the nation’s failure for the third successive time to qualify for the FIFA World Cup, and compounded a leadership and structural crisis. The exits suffered by Bologna and ACF Fiorentina on Thursday in the UEFA Europa League and UEFA Conference League respectively meant no Italian teams are left in European competition this season. Italy’s last remaining UEFA Champions League contenders, Atalanta BC, went out in the round of 16 last month. It is the first time since the 1986-1987 campaign that Italian clubs
RSS