Taiwan’s nearly unbeaten run in the U-18 Baseball World Cup yesterday ended in defeat, as they lost 2-1 to world No. 1 Japan in a brutal final in Taipei.
Taiwan were again runners-up in the World Baseball Softball Confederation tournament, which they lost last year to the US in Florida. They last won the tournament in 2019. No tournament was held in 2020 or 2021.
It was a devastating defeat in front of a crowd of 9,000 at Taipei Tianmu Baseball Stadium, after Taiwan proved they could beat just about anyone in the tournament, having won every game prior to last night’s final, including their Super Round match against Japan on Saturday. They won that game 5-2.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kun, Taipei Times
Yesterday’s final started promisingly, with Taiwanese starter Sun Yi-lei (孫易磊) holding Japan to just one hit in the top of the first inning.
Taiwan’s first batter of the day, designated hitter Chiu Hsin (邱鑫), also recorded the first run of the game.
After getting on base with a single in the bottom of the first, he moved to second off left fielder Hsu Ting-lun’s sacrifice bunt. Chiu then stole third on a wild pitch while center fielder Ko Ching-hsien (柯敬賢) was at bat. Shortly after, Ko sent Chiu home on a single to right field.
Photo: CNA
After two tense, scoreless innings, second baseman Ren Ogata and center fielder Minato Maruta put Japan on the board in the top of the fourth inning, taking a 2-1 lead. Maruta was initially called off at first base, but Japan successfully challenged the call.
After Lin Wei-en (林維恩) took over for Sun in the top of the fifth inning, Taiwan held Japan off for two more innings, with Lin striking out back-to-back batters in the sixth.
He kept Japan at bay again in a tense seventh inning, in which left fielder Koga Hashimoto was tagged out at third only to be replaced with shortstop Syuya Yamada. Lin struck out Ogata to close out the frame.
However, Taiwan was unable to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh, with three outs after four batters.
In the bronze medal game, South Korea blanked the US 4-0, as Kim Tae-kyeon held last year’s champions to just two hits in seven innings.
South Korea started off hot, with first baseman Yeo Tong-keon’s triple in the first inning sending home second baseman Jeong An-seok, while Yeo scored off a single from shortstop Park Jih-wan.
Third baseman Cho Hyun-min scored in the top of the fourth inning off a single from Lee Sang-jun, and then scored again in the top of the sixth off a triple from Lee Seung-min.
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY: Taiwan shares the same values as those that fought in WWII, and nations must unite to halt the expansion of a new authoritarian bloc, Lai said The government yesterday held a commemoration ceremony for Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, joining the rest of the world for the first time to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Taiwan honoring V-E Day signifies “our growing connections with the international community,” President William Lai (賴清德) said at a reception in Taipei on the 80th anniversary of V-E Day. One of the major lessons of World War II is that “authoritarianism and aggression lead only to slaughter, tragedy and greater inequality,” Lai said. Even more importantly, the war also taught people that “those who cherish peace cannot
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on Friday expressed concern over the rate at which China is diversifying its military exercises, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Saturday. “The rates of change on the depth and breadth of their exercises is the one non-linear effect that I’ve seen in the last year that wakes me up at night or keeps me up at night,” Paparo was quoted by FT as saying while attending the annual Sedona Forum at the McCain Institute in Arizona. Paparo also expressed concern over the speed with which China was expanding its military. While the US
‘FALLACY’: Xi’s assertions that Taiwan was given to the PRC after WWII confused right and wrong, and were contrary to the facts, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday called Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) claim that China historically has sovereignty over Taiwan “deceptive” and “contrary to the facts.” In an article published on Wednesday in the Russian state-run Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Xi said that this year not only marks 80 years since the end of World War II and the founding of the UN, but also “Taiwan’s restoration to China.” “A series of instruments with legal effect under international law, including the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Declaration have affirmed China’s sovereignty over Taiwan,” Xi wrote. “The historical and legal fact” of these documents, as well
RSS