CRICKET
Stars go home winless
The Taiwan Stars yesterday lost three games from three at the Janhong Tournament at the Yingfeng Cricket Ground in Taipei, leaving them last and out of today’s finals. Taipei-based ICC made 76-2, aided by 25 extras, to overhaul the Stars’ total of 74-6 in the first of yesterday’s 12-over matches. Saurabh Hajari belted 50 not out from just 23 deliveries to power the Game Swingers to 128-5 in the second match, which was too much for the Stars’ 72-7. In the third game, the Taipei Indians made 116-3 to set up a 30-run win. Yesterday’s action completed the group stage in the five-team tournament, with the Hsinchu Titans topping the table for direct entry into today’s final. The Indians and the Swingers are to play in the morning to decide who gets the other spot in the championship match.
LITTLE LEAGUE
Girl scores a run
Stella Weaver, the only girl playing in the Little League World Series this year, singled, scored a run and was hit by a pitch, helping Tennessee to an 8-1 win over Rhode Island on Friday. Weaver is just the 22nd girl to play in the tournament’s history. The first Little League World Series was held in 1947. With the bases empty, Stella hit a hard grounder to short and beat out the throw to become the 10th girl to record a hit in tournament history. She later hustled from second to home on a bloop single, clapping her hands as she slid through the plate. “People don’t realize how fast she is,” manager Randy Huth said. “You ask any one of these guys, she can fly. She can flat out fly. She hit that ball so hard to shortstop and he still couldn’t throw her out.” Weaver also made a put-out in right field before she was pulled defensively in the fourth, maintaining her place in the lineup. Huth said he made the switch because he considered pitching her in relief of starter Grayson May. Huth said there was “definitely a chance” that Weaver would get the start in Tennessee’s game against Washington tomorrow. The Tennessee team, from Nolensville just south of Nashville, is representing the Southeast region in the US bracket. “You’re gonna see Stella,” Huth said. “She can throw it, man. She can really pitch.” Taiwan, represented by Taoyuan-based Kuei-Shan Little League, face Japan tomorrow. They won their first game at the tournament against Canada.
GAMES
Victoria to pay A$380m
Australia’s Victoria state is to pay A$380 million (US$243 million) to Commonwealth Games organizers, Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said yesterday, after it withdrew as 2026 event host citing a projected cost blowout. Victoria last month pulled out of hosting the quadrennial multi-sport event, which was to have been held in four regional hubs, with Andrews saying costs could have ballooned to more than A$7 billion from a budgeted A$2.6 billion. The decision has raised the possibility that the Games might not take place for the first time since being canceled due to World War II. In a joint statement issued by Andrews, the Commonwealth Games Federation, Commonwealth Games Federation Partnerships, Commonwealth Games Australia and Victoria said they had “settled all their disputes regarding the cancelation of the multi-hub regional Victoria 2026 Commonwealth Games.” The statemenst said: “The State of Victoria has agreed to pay the Commonwealth Games parties ... A$380 million.”
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
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
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
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
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