A baseball team from Gueishan Elementary School in Taoyuan on Friday was named as the Asia-Pacific region’s representative at this year’s Little League Baseball (LLB) World Series in the US after a South Korean team were stripped of their championship over player eligibility rules.
Although the Taiwanese team were defeated 2-1 by South Seoul in the regional championship tournament in the South Korean capital last week, team officials lodged a protest with the LLB organization, raising questions about their opponents’ roster during the game.
After an investigation, South Seoul’s win was forfeited because some of their players were ineligible to compete, the Little League International Tournament Committee said in a statement.
Photo: CNA
The South Korean team had two players from a team who had been eliminated in that country’s national tournament, the committee said.
As a result, the Gueishan team “has been declared the champions of the Asia-Pacific Region and will be eligible to participate in the Little League Baseball World Series upon review of all eligibility requirements,” it said.
The LLB World Series is an annual baseball tournament for children aged 10 to 12. This year’s tournament is to be played from Aug. 16 to 27 in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Taiwan are scheduled to play Canada in their fist game on Aug. 17.
Meanwhile, the head coach of another Taoyuan team, Chiang Kuei-kuan, yesterday said that he had filed an appeal with US-based Pony Baseball and Softball after his team were stripped of the Asia-Pacific Zone Tournament championship the previous day.
This means the team, made up primarily of players from Hsinming Junior High School, would not represent Taiwan at this year’s Pony League World Series in Washington, Pennsylvania.
Chiang said the organizers of the Asia-Pacific regional tournament informed him of the decision on Friday, which they said was based on irregularities concerning the bats used by his players during the championship game against a Japanese team earlier in the day in Fukushima Prefecture.
The bats used by his players all conformed to the rules of the organization and had been inspected before and after each game in the tournament, Chiang said.
The Pony World Series, an annual baseball tournament for players aged 13 and 14, is to be played from Aug. 11 to 16.
Taiwan’s participation in the Olympic Games has been a story of politics as much as sports, with the name it has competed under since 1984 — Chinese Taipei — drawing as much attention as its athletes. However, with the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad set to begin in Paris on Friday, the exploits of Taiwan’s athletes past and present who have won 36 medals since the country’s debut in Melbourne in 1956 deserve a nod. Many of Taiwan’s medal winners have gained considerable name recognition, but only two have achieved legendary status — Maysang Kalimud and Chi Cheng, the only medal winners
Shohei Ohtani on Sunday hit a 473-foot (144m) home run as the Los Angeles Dodgers went deep six times in a 9-6 victory over the Boston Red Sox. Freddie Freeman, Teoscar Hernandez, Gavin Lux, Austin Barnes and Jason Heyward also connected as Los Angeles swept the three-game series. “Going into the break, we weren’t playing good baseball, and then to come out fresh against a really good ball club and to play the way we did — the offense came to life,” Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said. It was the 25th time the Dodgers launched at least six homers in a game
Canada women’s soccer coach Bev Priestman on Wednesday said she would step away from the team’s opening game against New Zealand at the Paris Olympics in the wake of a drone scandal. New Zealand complained to the International Olympic Committee’s integrity unit after it said drones were flown over closed practice sessions earlier in the week. As of press time last night, Canada, the defending Olympic champions, were set to open the Paris Games against New Zealand in Saint-Etienne. In the fallout of the complaint, two staff members — assistant coach Jasmine Mander and analyst Joseph Lombardi — were sent home, the
Conventional wisdom dictates that the average retirement age for elite female players in the intense and physically demanding sport of badminton is well under 30 years old. Five female shuttlers are set to turn that on its head when they make their fourth Olympic appearances at the Paris Games, a feat never accomplished before. Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying, 30, Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon, 29, Belgium’s Lianne Tan, 33, and Hong Kong’s Tse Ying Suet and Canada’s Michelle Li, both 32, are to compete for Olympic glory at Porte de La Chapelle Arena from Saturday to Aug. 5. “These achievements get missed because they’re women,” said