Taiwan’s Kuei-Shan are ready to make another run through the bracket at the Little League World Series (LLWS), only this time they are hoping for a happier ending.
The team from Taoyuan who traveled to South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, last year with the hardest-throwing pitcher and left with third place are back, again under the leadership of manager Lee Cheng-ta, but the roster is drastically different.
There are no returning players, none, but that is not a worry for Lee.
Photo: AP
“There’s no one ace for the team and everyone is contributing,” Lee said through an interpreter.
Wanting to follow in the footsteps of last year’s team, Kuei-Shan have trained hard to make another trip to the tournament that opened this morning Taiwan time with four games scheduled, including the Taiwanese side against a Canadian side.
Kuei-Shan last year outscored their three opponents 25-1 headed into championship weekend, thanks in large part to pitching ace Fan Chen-jun, but they got only one hit in a 2-0 loss to Curacao in the semi-finals to end Taiwan’s hopes of winning a first LLWS title since 1996.
Prior to last year, Kuei-Shan made it to South Williamsport two other times — in 2009, when the team lost in the title game to California and in 2012. Lee has been part of the team for all of it, yet the current roster is the smartest team he has ever taught, he said.
“Because of their smartness, they’re able to conquer a lot of weaknesses that their physical strength cannot cover,” he said.
In the Asia-Pacific regional tournament, Kuei-Shan went 5-1. Eight teams competed over a week for a spot in the LLWS tournament.
Kuei-Shan lost to a South Korean side 13-3, but met them again in the regional final, where the Taiwanese won 3-0 at the beginning of last month.
“This team is very good defensively, [errors] are very rare,” Lee said. “As long as they can uphold that defensive game, they usually come up pretty well.”
Offensively, the team has also put up strong numbers. All of their other regional tournament wins were won by at least 10 runs and as much as 20.
There is no indoor facility in which the team can practice in Taoyuan and last month there was a lot of rain, which limited the team’s preparation before traveling to the US.
The winner of the Taiwan v Canada game are to face an Australian side, who received an opening-round bye. The loser falls into the elimination bracket.
“Because it’s a different team, it’s so difficult to get here,” Lee said. “Either win or lose, enjoy the road to Williamsport, and hopefully the kids have the best memory in Williamsport.”
The international side of the draw also features the second tournament appearance of Cuba, represented by Santa Clara from Villa Clara. In their first appearance last year, Cuba dropped two games and an assistant coach disappeared from the team.
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
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
Things are somewhat out of control at the Australian Open this year, and that has only a little to do with the results on the courts. Yes, there were some upsets, including Madison Keys eliminating No. 2 Iga Swiatek in the women’s singles semi-finals on Thursday. It also was the first time since 1990 that three teenagers beat top-10 men’s seeds at a Grand Slam tennis tournament. The loser of one of those matches, Daniil Medvedev, got fined US$76,000 for behaving badly. Last year’s women’s singles runner-up exited in the first round. However, the real fuss is happening elsewhere. The rowdy fans, for one