Taiwanese pitcher Lin Wei-en (林維恩) signed a US$1.35 million contract with the Oakland Athletics, the team announced on Thursday, making him one of only nine Taiwanese players to sign with an MLB team for more than NT$1 million.
Lin, 18, graduated from Taoyuan’s Pingjen High School.
The left-hander performed well in the WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup last year, earning him the nickname “Little Wang Wei-chung” (小王維中) after the famous Taiwanese pitcher, who in 2019 became the first Taiwanese to play for the A’s.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
Lin said he received a lot of help in his journey to professional baseball, and has decided to give back by donating NT$100,000 to Taoyuan Guishan Elementary School, NT$15,000 to Taoyuan Hsin Ming Junior High School and NT$20,000 to Taoyuan Municipal Pingjen Senior High School.
“I always knew this kid was talented. The road here has not been easy, but the signing of today’s contract makes Taoyuan proud. I also feel so thankful for his donations to schools in Taoyuan,” said Chang Cang-bin (張滄彬), an advisor to Taoyuan baseball teams.
Taiwan’s men’s table tennis team won bronze on Saturday at this year’s International Table Tennis Federation World Team Table Tennis Championships in London, matching the country’s best-ever finish at the regular tournament. Consisting of Lin Yun-ju, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7, Feng Yi-hsin, Kuo Guan-hong, Hong Jing-kai and Hsu Hsien-chia, the team won bronze after losing 0-3 to Japan in the semifinals. In the opening match, 24-year-old Lin played the first game against world No. 3 Tomokazu Harimoto 11-5, but ultimately lost the next three closely contested games 9-11, 10-12 and 10-12. Feng then faced world No. 8 Sora Matsushima in
Lin Yun-ju on Thursday handed Taiwan two key victories as they advanced to the semi-finals of the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals in London. The Taiwan men’s table tennis team beat Sweden 3-2 in five singles matches. The 24-year-old Lin, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7 and nicknamed the “Silent Assassin,” opened the tie by defeating world No. 2 Truls Moregard 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 13-11) before clinching the deciding fifth match with a 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-5) win over Anton Kallberg to hand his team the overall victory. Kuo Guan-hong put Taiwan up 2-0 with a 3-2 (4-11, 11-8, 8-11,
Taiwanese fire dancer Yang Li-wei advanced to the final of Britain’s Got Talent this weekend after receiving a Golden Buzzer during her live semi-final performance. Yang, a member of Taiwan’s Coming True Fire Group, awed judges and audiences with a high-intensity fire performance featuring flaming umbrellas, fire swallowing and spinning metal structures balanced with her legs. Judge Simon Cowell praised Yang as a star, while guest judge KSI reacted with amazement before pressing the Golden Buzzer, sending her to the finals. The dance group wrote on social media that the Golden Buzzer was “the highest honor” on the talent show, adding: “Twenty-three years
As Super Rugby fast approaches its playoff season it finds itself racing toward a reckoning with many issues that threaten the southern hemisphere tournament. A group of stakeholders met in the New Zealand city of Christchurch late last month to address problems that are making the future of the 31-year-old competition increasingly tenuous. The discussion was made more urgent by the decision by the owners of Moana Pasifika to fold the Auckland-based club for financial reasons. That followed the closure of the Melbourne Rebels at the end of the 2024 season, likewise because of financial difficulties. Problems addressed included player retention as more
RSS