Taiwan’s top male table tennis player Lin Yun-ju on Friday was named the 2023-2024 regular-season Most Valuable Player (MVP) of Japan’s semi-professional T.League.
Nicknamed the “Silent Assassin from Taiwan,” Lin is to be awarded ¥1 million (US$6,614) for the honor, which was based on his 16-2 record for a league-best 88.9 winning percentage.
CAPPED WITH TITLE
Photo: CNA
That performance led his Kinoshita-Meister Tokyo team to top the league with a 15-5 record and to the final at the Yoyogi 2nd Gymnasium in Tokyo yesterday against the Okayama Rivets.
Lin beat Hao Shuai of China 3-1 (11-13, 11-3, 11-1, 11-9) in his men’s singles match in the four-match final, which Kinoshita-Meister Tokyo claimed 3-1.
The 22-year-old world No. 6 led Taiwan’s men’s team to the World Team Table Tennis Championships in Busan, South Korea, late last month, where they matched the team’s best performance at the event by reaching the semi-finals.
The result also saw Taiwan secure a berth at the Paris Olympic Games in the men’s team event and two in the men’s singles.
He is to vie for the title at the WTT Champions Incheon in South Korea starting on Wednesday, before teaming up with Chen Szu-yu at the World Mixed Doubles Olympic Qualification in Havirov, Czech Republic, in the middle of next month.
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He