Lamigo Monkeys outfielder Chung “Yo-Yo Man” Cheng-yo unloaded nine bombs over the leftfield wall against Uni-President Lion slugger Kao Guo-ching’s five in the finals to run away with the title in this year’s Home Run Derby at the Sinjhuang Baseball Stadium in New Taipei City last night.
The long-ball specialist out of the National Taiwan Sport University — whose list of distinguished alumni include current Major League pitcher Chen Wei-ying (the Baltimore Orioles) and former big leaguer Hu Chin-lung (the New York Mets) — became the first player in league history to defend the title in the Home Run Derby by taking five of the first eight pitches he faced to tie Kao’s mark, before settling with nine on the night to keep the winner’s bat for the second straight year.
“Wow, it’s hard to believe that no one has done it before. I’d like to thank coach Lin for feeding me some great pitches tonight,” Chung said after the event.
It was Lamigo Monkeys assistant coach Lin Chen-sheng who helped him win the event a year ago as well.
“Coach Lin did a great job in guiding me with his pitches, so all I had to do was follow his lead,” Chung explained after the home run-bashing contest.
Along with a stunning winner’s trophy and a winner’s bat, Chung also pocketed NT$100,000 in prize money. He also raised a total of 50 grams of pure gold for a local charity and donated NT$30,000 of his winnings to show his kind side off the field.
Chung’s quest for the repeat began with three blasts against the Brother Elephants’ Chang Min-yen’s one in the preliminary round, which featured 12 of the league’s top long-ball hitters in this year’s contest.
Then came the match against the Lions’ Deng Chih-wei, who fell short to Chung by a 12-3 margin to send the defending champ into the third round, where he needed only a pair of home runs to edge past teammate Hung Chen-yu to set up the rematch of last year’s contest against Kao.
Kao took the plate first as the challenger by grinding out five shots over the outfield wall to set the bar for Chung, which took the eventual champ only eight swings to match.
“When you are up against someone like [Chung], there is really not much I can do,” a humble Kao said after the contest.
College basketballer Kaitlyn Chen has become the first female player of Taiwanese descent to be drafted by a WNBA team, after the Golden State Valkyries selected her in the third and final round of the league’s draft on Monday. Chen, a point guard who played her first three seasons in college for Princeton University, transferred to the University of Connecticut (UConn) for her final season, which culminated in a national championship earlier this month. While at Princeton, Chen was named the Ivy League tournament’s most outstanding player three times from 2022 to last year. Prior to the draft, ESPN described Chen as
College basketballer Kaitlyn Chen (陳凱玲) has become the first player of Taiwanese descent to be drafted by a WNBA team, after being selected by the Golden State Valkyries in the third and final round of the league's draft yesterday. Chen, a point guard who played her first three seasons in college for Princeton University, transferred to the University of Connecticut (UConn) for her final season, which culminated in a national championship on April 6. While at Princeton, Chen was named the Ivy League tournament's most outstanding player three times from 2022 to last year. Prior to the draft, ESPN described Chen as a
Japan yesterday secured a second consecutive Billie Jean King Cup finals appearance with a 2-1 win over 2023 champions Canada, thanks to Ena Shibahara and Shuko Aoyama’s 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 win over Kayla Cross and Rebecca Marino in the qualifying doubles decider. Shibahara and Aoyama powered through the opening set 6-3, breaking twice for a quick 3-0 lead. Cross and Marino hit back in the second, edging it 7-5 to level the match, before the Japanese pair regained control in the third. Canada’s 18-year-old Victoria Mboko edged Shibahara 6-4, 6-7 (8/10), 7-5 in a marathon opening clash. Mboko fired eight aces to
DAY OF BLOWOUTS: Elsewhere, the Lakers clinched the third seed in the Western Conference with a 140-109 pounding of the under-strength Houston Rockets The Denver Nuggets on Friday improved their playoff position, with a triple double from Nikola Jokic helping them to a 117-109 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. The Serbian put up 26 points, 13 assists and 16 rebounds. The triple-double performance, his 34th this season, ensured that he will finish the regular season as just the third NBA player to average a triple double across an entire season. The win meant the Nuggets improved to 49-32 on the season and gave them a real chance of grabbing fourth place and home-court advantage in the playoffs. Aaron Gordon top scored with 33 points for Denver,
RSS