Taiwan take on South Korea tonight on the opening day of the Asian Baseball Championship at Taichung’s Intercontinental Stadium.
Tournament favorites Japan play China at 12:30pm at the same venue, while Indonesia and Pakistan are to face off at the National Taiwan University of Sport’s ballpark in downtown Taichung at 12:30pm.
It is the 27th edition of the tournament organized by the Baseball Federation of Asia (BFA), in which all teams begin by playing a round-robin format.
After their opening fixture, Taiwan are to take on Indonesia, China, Pakistan and Japan.
All round-robin fixtures are to be completed by Sunday.
The two teams with the best record are to play each other for the championship crown, with no playoff games to be played.
Taiwan captain Kuo Lee Chien-fu said he and the players want to win the title in front of home fans in Taichung.
“Everyone must stay sharp, focus on the game and not let pressure get to them. We know the key games are against South Korea and Japan,” Kuo Lee said at a news conference yesterday.
He added that players must not take China lightly, because they have made tremendous progress and have beaten Taiwan at international level in recent years.
Kuo Lee, a former star pitcher for Taiwan and the Chinatrust Whales, said he has penciled in youngster Wang Tsung-hao to start against South Korea, and said that Arizona Diamondbacks farm system player Huang Wei-chieh would be on the mound against China on Friday.
Due to professional baseball leagues being in their season-ending stretch, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea have mostly called up players from semi-professional circuits and amateur leagues for the tournament, as well as prospects playing in US Minor Leagues.
Therefore, younger players are to be afforded the opportunity to prove themselves worthy of playing on the international stage.
The BFA named China’s Tianjin City as hosts for the tournament, but it backed out in February, allowing the event to be played in Taiwan for the second consecutive time, BFA officials said.
Indonesia and Pakistan are relative newcomers to the sport of baseball, while China have made significant progress in recent years. However, it is thought Taiwan, Japan and South Korea hold the best chances of winning the tournament.
Japan are the most successful national squad, having won 18 titles in the tournament’s history, followed by South Korea (7) and Taiwan (4).
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