Taiwan’s national baseball team defeated Australia 5-1 yesterday in Japan at the Premier 12 championship, a qualifying event for next year’s Tokyo Olympic Games.
In their last game of the six-team Super Round, Taiwan connected on seven hits to Australia’s five, as Taiwan pitcher Hu Chih-wei dominated the opposition, allowing only three hits in five innings.
Taiwan were the first on the scoreboard — to cheers from Taiwanese and Japanese fans in the Tokyo Dome — when Wang Wei-chen hit an RBI single up the middle in the bottom of the third, before Australia pulled off a double play to end the inning.
Photo: AFP
With Taiwan relief pitcher Lin Kai-wei on the mound in the sixth inning, Australia’s Logan Wade converted a fast ball into a homer that went deep into center field for the equalizer.
With first and third bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth, Wang tapped another RBI single into right field to give Taiwan a 2-1 lead.
Before the end of the inning, Lin Che-hsuan raised the stakes for Australia’s dugout with a home run deep into left field, extending the lead to 5-1.
Photo: AFP
Lin Che-hsuan, who played for the Boston Red Sox in 2012, said he just focused on hitting the ball with all his might, which helped him knock it out of the park in the eighth inning.
Australia tried, but could not catch up in the ninth — and the game ended in victory for Taiwan.
Although Taiwan’s performance in the Premier 12 did not secure them a berth in the Tokyo Olympics, Lin said he believes that the team might still qualify next year, when they have another chance at the Olympic final qualifying tournament in Taichung from April 1 to 5.
“I want to thank our supporters and my family, because I think it is a great honor to represent Taiwan and I hope to wear the uniform again,” Lin Che-hsuan said.
Japan (3-1) and South Korea (3-1) are vying for the top spot in the Premier 12 tournament. Mexico (3-2) are in third, while the US (2-3) sit fourth and Taiwan (2-3) — competing as “Chinese Taipei” — sit fifth on the table. Australia (1-4) are at the bottom.
Today, defending champions South Korea face Japan in the championship finals, while the US play Mexico for third.
Sanctioned by the World Baseball Softball Confederation, the Premier 12 features the top 12 teams from the confederation’s world rankings for last season.
Next year, baseball is returning to the Olympics for the first time since 2008.
Taiwan finished in ninth place in the inaugural Premier 12, failing to advance to the quarter-finals after finishing with a 2-3 record in Group A.
‘NO SECURITY RISK’: The Railway Bureau reassured the public that the technicians’ activities were limited to technical guidance and did not involve sensitive systems The Railway Bureau yesterday said it had invited eight Chinese technicians to assist with an airport MRT construction project. The bureau issued the confirmation after an Internet user said Chinese nationals had entered the construction zone of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s Terminal 3 project. They asked why “individuals from an enemy state” were allowed access to such a major national infrastructure project, which raised serious concerns over Taiwan’s industrial safety, sensitive systems and information security. The bureau’s Northern Region Engineering Branch Office said subcontractor Taiwan Handle Industrial Co (台灣手把工業) of the Taoyuan airport MRT’s “Contract No. CU05 Project A14 Station Civil, MEP &
A US uncrewed surface vessel (USV) encountered multiple Chinese warships during an autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait, US defense company Seasats said in a statement on Wednesday. Seasats announced that a Lightfish USV had completed the first autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait. Over five days, the USV traversed the entire length of the Strait while constantly monitoring surface vessel traffic, the company said. The Lightfish encountered multiple Chinese warships, one of which was a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Type 056 corvette, it said. The Chinese vessels were operating “well within Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone without transmitting their identity via the
GREATER REACH? Auto parts and wood products would face tariffs of up to 15%, matching those targeting the EU, Japan and South Korea, Vice Premier said The US has announced that preferential tariff treatment for Taiwan’s non-semiconductor Section 232 goods would take effect retroactively from May 1, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The US government yesterday posted a notice on the Federal Register’s public inspection Web site previewing tariff concessions for Taiwan under a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Taiwan-US investment after two months of negotiations. The MOU signed on Jan. 15 stipulated three major preferential tariff arrangements: a 15 percent “reciprocal” tariff rate for Taiwan without stacking most-favored nation (MFN) rates; preferential Section 232 treatment for semiconductors and related products; and preferential Section 232 treatment for non-semiconductor
The National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology yesterday showcased its locally developed variants of the Vision 60 robotic patrol dog, which it plans to deploy on the nation’s outlying territories in the South China Sea. The variants were produced under the Joint Lab project — created by the institute and domestic companies — and assembled with domestically produced motors, lenses and artificial intelligence (AI) systems alongside licensed tech from the US, Missile and Rocket Systems Research Division deputy director Jen Kuo-kang (任國光) told the media event at a military base in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) area. Taiwan has built up its strengths
RSS