Department of Mathematics Men’s Volleyball team and Department of Water Resources and Environmental Engineering Men’s Softball team won the championships in the just-concluded TKU President Cup tournament, held on April 17 and 18 in a pouring rain. Because of the poor weather, the organizer of the tournament decided to cancel the championship game of softball event, and let both the Department of Water Resources and Environmental Engineering and Department of Insurance share the No.1 title. It is the second year in a row for the Department of Water Resources to take the championship title of the event.
The champion team captain junior student Lai Yen-fu said that the pouring rain caused the softball field unsuitable for holding games anymore. “We are the defending champion so we are in greater pressure,” said Lai, adding that they were originally well-prepared for the game but it was a pity that they couldn’t play because of the weather. Department of Insurance team captain Hung Wei-hsiang also noted that his team is all-prepared for competing with the worthy opponents but it was really too bad the game was cancelled because of the rain. Hung said his team has come a long way before entering the final four thanks to the team’s joint effort. He hopes the team can compete in the next year’s tournament in a “real” championship game. He also expressed gratitude to those who braved the pouring rain to cheer for his team. “They wouldn’t miss the game despite the heavy rain.”
On men’s basketball event, Department of Public Administration took the gold with its competitive roster that include many belong to the university team. Team leader Li Cheng-han said that it is pure luck for his team to take the win because team members are hot from the three point line. It was the department’s first championship title in the competition in three years. Li gave the highest remark to his teammates while expressing the hope that his team can win again next year. On the other hand, Department of Aerospace Engineering team had fought a courageous battle despite they did not have strong and experienced players as their opponents. Team captain Chen I-cheng said he told his team to stay in the game at all cost but their rivals were too strong especially in the three-pointers. Chen noted that his team had work very hard during weekends and holidays to build the team’s chemistry. The team will work on the defensive effort in the paint area in the future to play against such a strong opponent in the next tournament.
At the women’s basketball, the English Department routed the Chinese counterparts in a landslide 33 to 13 victory despite the latter has a 178 centimeters tall player from the university team. Shen Hsin, team captain of the English Department, said that her team has worked on strengthening our stamina since they don’t have enough members to play four quarters game. “We won because of our strong will to win and the encouragement from the team members,” Shen said. Shen noted that her team has many new bloods this year. They are well-trained and experienced in the just-concluded Freshmen Cup tournament, allowing them to play against the taller opponents with defensive strategies.
Department of Chinese also did a great job by moving up from the previous year tourney’s third place finish to the second this year. Team captain Chang I-wen said they have focused on fundamentals. “All of us have done our best trying to take the win despite some of us have cracked our ankles,” said. “We feel no regret because we have done the utmost.”
Department of Math has grabbed the gold in the men’s volleyball for two years in a row. Team captain Lin Hung-i said his team has great teamwork with countless practices. The starting lineups of the team were all experienced seniors which can response swiftly in an intense situation. Lin noted all the competing teams are all very strong and no game was an easy one. In comparison with the Math team’s strategy that uses all senior players as starters, Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering team that won the silver took a different approach. The team’s starters are a mix of senior players with junior ones. Team captain Chang Chao-yuen said he believes everyone deserve the same opportunity if they are well-prepared for the big games. The strategy proves to work as the team has its best performances in recent year. Chang noted that his team has worked extra three days during the spring vacation for intensive training and practices. “We all show our passion toward the games during the games or practices,” Chang said.
Meanwhile, the Japanese Department finished the first in volleyball. Team captain Sun Jo-yun said that they have sharpened their skills during the spring vacation training. The team fought a fierce battle with the Chinese Department that has many players from the university team. The Japanese team took the crucial win in the last minute. “It was like a dream comes true,” said Sun. ( ~Yeh Yun-kai )
