The U-12 Baseball World Cup starts in Tainan today, following diligent efforts from sports officials and repair crews to ensure that all facilities were ready after sustaining minor damage during Typhoon Danas earlier this month.
Tainan is hosting the international tournament for players under 12, primarily in Grade 6.
The competition organized by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) features 12 teams divided into two groups of six.
Photo: Wu Chun-feng, Taipei Times
The final is to be held on Aug. 3.
Today's openers involve concurrent games between Australia and Mexico, and the Dominican Republic and the Czech Republic at 10:30am, while at 2:30pm, Germany take on Japan and the US play Panama.
These are to be followed by the official WBSC opening ceremony in the evening, after which Taiwan are to face Cuba, and South Korea are to clash with South Africa at 6:30pm and 7:30pm respectively.
All games are to take place at the Asia-Pacific International Baseball Stadiums and Training Centers.
"We welcome all the participants from other countries, team delegates and organizing officials to Tainan. The players are to do their best to display their skills during the tournament," Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) told a news conference yesterday for media to meet with players and coaches of the 12 national squads.
"All the visitors from abroad can also visit Tainan's cultural sites and attractions, and taste Tainan's specialty dishes. It is the time to enjoy the many charms and appeals of this city," Huang said, as he also invited baseball fans in Taiwan to attend the games.
Huang also highlighted Tainan as the "baseball capital" of Taiwan, as the city is to hold the U-15 Asian Championship next month, as well as two international competitions later in the summer. The city also hopes to win the host rights for other large baseball events in coming years.
Huang and sports officials helped introduce players and team delegates at the event, while speeches were made by directors and diplomats from country representative offices in Taiwan. These included Czech Representative to Taiwan David Steinke, Mexican Representative to Taiwan Martin Torres, German Institute Taipei Acting Director-General Katrin Buchholz, and Masafumi Oku and Koreeda Kenichiro of the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association's Kaohsiung Office.
The competition’s two playing fields sustained minor damage due to strong winds and heavy rain during Typhoon Danas, which required repairs.
Huang together with Tainan sports officials made a final inspection yesterday, conducting on-site checks throughout the facilities, including the fields, roof covering, outfield wall padding, audience seating, lighting poles, LED display wall, bullpen and indoor training rooms.
Tainan TSG Hawks slugger Steven Moya, who is leading the CPBL in home runs, has withdrawn from this weekend’s All-Star Game after the unexpected death of his wife. Moya’s wife began feeling severely unwell aboard a plane that landed at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday evening. She was rushed to a hospital, but passed away, the Hawks said in a statement yesterday. The franchise is assisting Moya with funeral arrangements and hopes fans who were looking forward to seeing him at the All-Star Game can understand his decision to withdraw. According to Landseed Medical Clinic, whose staff attempted to save Moya’s wife,
Shohei Ohtani on Wednesday homered for the fifth consecutive game, tying a Los Angeles Dodgers franchise record. Yankees star Aaron Judge was the last player to homer in five consecutive games, accomplishing that feat last year. Ohtani, who leads the National League with 37 home runs, homered in the first inning off Minnesota Twins starter Chris Paddack. He hit a slow curveball 134m to center. He carried the bat midway down the first-base line and then did a bat flip. He did not hit a home run later in the game with the Dodgers trailing, but his presence was felt. With two outs
Taiwan’s world No. 6 shuttler Chou Tien-chen yesterday defeated India’s H.S. Prannoy to advance to the quarter-finals of the China Open in Changzhou. It was former world No. 2 Chou’s eighth win in 14 matches against Prannoy, who had earlier this week lamented the age divide between him and up-and-comers, although he is only two years younger than 35-year-old Chou. The Taiwanese, who is seeded sixth at the tournament, rebounded from a close 21-18 loss in game 1 on Court 2 at the Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium. He bounced back to take the next games 21-15, 21-8 and set up a tough quarter-final
The Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday acquired Taiwanese-American outfielder Stuart Fairchild from the Atlanta Braves for cash considerations to fill the roster after All-Star second baseman Brandon Lowe was placed back on the injured list. Fairchild was designated for assignment by the Braves on Monday after hitting .216/.273/.333 in 28 games for Atlanta, with most of his work coming as a pinch runner or defensive replacement. He joins Tampa Bay as a versatile fourth outfielder option. To make room for Fairchild on the 40-man roster, the Rays transferred relief pitcher Manuel Rodriguez (forearm strain) from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day
RSS