Taiwan’s baseball season, the only one scheduled anywhere in the world amid the COVID-19 pandemic, was from yesterday to include English-language broadcasts to showcase the nation’s baseball to a wider audience, broadcaster Eleven Sports said on Twitter.
The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) on Sunday held its first game at the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium after the first two games were postponed a week earlier due to bad weather, making it the first professional baseball league in the world to start this year.
However, the season — or at least the beginning of the season — is to be played without fans due to the nation’s social distancing regulations designed to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
Photo: CNA
The English-language commentary, which is to be provided for Rakuten Monkeys home games, would be part of the broadcasts to come from the Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium from yesterday to Sunday, said World Baseball Softball Confederation Asia correspondent Richard Wang, one of the commentators.
The Monkeys, at their home stadium, are to play back-to-back games against the Uni-President Lions yesterday and today, and then three straight games against the New Taipei City-based Fubon Guardians from tomorrow to Sunday.
Wang is a commentator for Major League Baseball in North America in Chinese on Fox Sports Taiwan. He is to team up with Wayne McNeil to present the CPBL to fans worldwide at a time when professional baseball has all but come to a halt due to the pandemic.
“In many ways, baseball is a way of life, and being able to have a baseball season means that Taiwan is still able to have a normal way of life,” Wang told reporters.
In addition to reflecting the nation’s success at stopping the spread of the novel coronavirus, it is also hoped that broadcasting the games in English would show the world that the pandemic can be overcome, he said.
Having previously served for 14 years in the CPBL’s department of promotion and marketing, official publications, strategic planning and international affairs, Wang said that he hopes to help international fans fall in love with Taiwanese baseball.
“I think the fans will be interested in the players’ skills, and I will also fill in with background and stories about the league,” Wang said. “But I do hope, maybe later in the season, fans will be allowed into the stadium, which will show the complete package the CPBL has to offer.”
Asked if the English-language broadcasts would continue for the rest of the season, Wang said that it depends on viewership, but added that he thinks there is a good chance it would be well-received.
The last time the CPBL was broadcast to an international audience was more than 30 years ago.
This year’s regular season is to run until Oct. 14, with a total of 240 games scheduled, the CPBL Web site showed.
The other teams in the CPBL are Taichung-based Brothers Baseball Club and the Yunlin County-based Wei Chuan Dragons.
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE: After Coco Gauff dispatched Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, she wrote ‘RIP TikTok USA’ and drew a broken heart on a television camera lens Defending champion Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while compatriot Chan Hao-ching on Saturday dominated her opponents in the second round, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka swept into the quarter-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia toppled Hungary’s Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US 6-4, 6-3, hitting 24 winners and converting three of seven break points in 1 hour, 18 minutes at 1573 Arena. Although rivals at last year’s Australian Open — where Hsieh and Belgium’s Elise Mertens beat Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-1, 7-5
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Coco Gauff’s dreams of a first women’s singles title in Melbourne were crushed in the quarter-finals by Paula Badosa. World No. 2 Alexander Zverev was ruffled by a stray feather in his men’s singles quarter-final, but he refocused to beat 12th seed Tommy Paul and reach the semi-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in 2 hours, 20 minutes to advance the semi-finals. Hsieh and Ostapenko converted eight of 14 break
RSS