BASEBALL
Wang’s granny found dead
An elderly man who was found dead on Sunday in the southern city of Tainan has been identified as the grandfather of Taiwanese baseball pitcher Wang Chien-ming, police said. A paperboy reported around 5 am on Sunday that he had seen someone hanging by the neck from an electric cord tied to a horizontal bar in a park in Tainan’s Guanmiao district. The police later identified the body as that of an 82-year-old man surnamed Huang. There was no suicide note and the Huang family said Huang did not show any abnormal behavior before the incident. He was the father of Wang’s biological mother. Wang was adopted at birth and raised by his uncle. According to Huang’s neighbors, he never boasted that he had a grandson who played in the Major League but he did care a lot about the 31-year-old baseball star. The 19-game winner returned to the Major mound on July 30 after a serious shoulder injury that kept him out of competition for more than two years.
JUDO
Taiwan scoops 12 medals
Sunday was a big day for Taiwanese athletes, as a judo team in Thailand brought home 12 medals, including two golds, ahead of a win by golfer Yani Tseng in the British Open. Competing among hundreds of participants from 13 countries, the 17-member Taiwan team at the Thailand International Judo North Bangkok University Championships 2011 finished with two gold, three silver and seven bronze medals. One of the gold medalists, Lin Chueh-cheng, had retired from competition but was recruited to represent Taiwan in the men’s 66kg division. The other gold medalist, 19-year-old Huang Tzu-chin, won in the women’s 78kg division. Huang is seen as one of the country’s best prospects in the sport, according to team coach Cheng Chia-te.
CRICKET
Bangladesh eye victory
Bangladesh’s batting crumbled for a second time at the Harare Sports Club on Sunday, but the tourists remain on course to win their only warm-up game against a Zimbabwe XI before next week’s one-off Test. At the close of the second day, the hosts were struggling in their quest for the 223 they needed for victory, having scored just three runs for the loss of opener Tino Mawoyo and number three Kyle Jarvis. Resuming on 42 for four in their first innings, Zimbabwe slipped to 113 all out on Sunday morning, conceding a deficit of 75, as Shafiul Islam and Rohiul Islam took three wickets each.When Bangladesh batted again, they continued to find it hard going on a pitch that Zimbabwe bowling coach Heath Streak described as “two-paced and rather unreliable.” Shakib Al Hasan top-scored with 40 as the Bangladeshis were bowled out for 147, setting the hosts 223 to win. Zimbabwe are fielding only five of the possible Test team that will face Bangladesh in Harare from Thursday.
CYCLING
Kittel takes first stage
Marcel Kittel, a German cyclist with Dutch team Skil-Shimano, has won the first stage of the Tour de Pologne on Sunday. Kittel took the yellow jersey in a ride of 101.5km over flat terrain from Pruszkow in central Poland to the capital, Warsaw. He finished the stage in 2 hours, 7 minutes, 26 seconds, just ahead of Norwegian BMC rider Alexander Kristoff. Italy’s Francesco Chicchi of the Quick Step team was third. The 68th edition of the Tour de Pologne is made up of seven stages covering 1,113km.
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and partner Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia yesterday advanced to the women’s doubles final at the Australian Open after defeating New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe and Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 6-3 in their semi-final. Hsieh has won nine Grand Slam doubles titles and has a shot at a 10th tomorrow, when the Latvian-Taiwanese duo are to play Taylor Townsend of the US and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic in the championship match at the A$96.5 million (US$61 million) outdoor hard court tournament at Melbourne Park. Townsend and Siniakova eliminated Russian pair Diana Shnaider and Mirra Andreeva 6-7
The San Francisco Giants signed 18-year-old Taiwanese pitcher Yang Nien-hsi (陽念希) to a contract worth a total of US$500,000 (NT $16.39 million). At a press event in Taipei on Wednesday, Jan. 22, the Giants’ Pacific Rim Area scout Evan Hsueh (薛奕煌) presented Yang with a Giants jersey to celebrate the signing. The deal consisted of a contract worth US$450,000 plus a US$50,000 scholarship bonus. Yang, who stands at 188 centimeters tall and weighs 85 kilograms, is of Indigenous Amis descent. With his fastest pitch clocking in at 150 kilometers per hour, Yang had been on Hsueh’s radar since playing in the HuaNan Cup
FINAL WEEK LOOMS: PSG rose to 22nd place to set up another tense challenge against 24th-placed Stuttgart, while Man City require victory against Club Brugge Manchester City are on the brink of a humiliating UEFA Champions League exit after a stunning loss to Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday, while Real Madrid is no longer at risk after routing Salzburg. Man City blew a two-goal lead in a high-stakes clash of super-wealthy underachievers that PSG won 4-2 in Paris, who could still be eliminated alongside the English champions after the final round of games next week. Only the top 24 in the 36-team standings are to advance. Man City, the 2023 champions, are in 25th place, but could squeeze into the knockout playoffs round by beating Club Brugge. “We will
Manchester City have reached do-or-die territory in the UEFA Champions League earlier than expected ahead of what Pep Guardiola has described as a “final” against Club Brugge today. City have disproved the suggestion a new format to Europe’s top club competition would remove any jeopardy for the top clubs as Guardiola stares down the barrel of failing to make the Champions League knockout stages for the first time in his career. The English champions have endured a torrid season both in their English Premier League title defense and on the continent. A run of one win in 13 games, which included Champions League