Taiwan last night blanked world No. 1 Japan 4-0 to win the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s (WBSC) Premier12 for the first time.
Taiwanese ace Lin Yu-min (林昱珉) held defending champions Japan to just one hit and no runs in the first four innings, before catcher Lin Chia-cheng (林家正) opened the fifth inning with a solo home run. That was soon followed by a three-run homer from Taiwanese captain Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲) to put Taiwan ahead in the prestigious tournament of the world’s top 12 baseball teams.
In addition to a superb performance from 21-year-old Arizona Diamondbacks prospect Lin, three more Taiwanese pitchers held Japan to just four hits total in nine innings.
Photo: CNA
The win is Taiwan’s best performance in the history of the top three international baseball tournaments — the Olympics, Premier12 (and its predecessor, the Baseball World Cup) and the World Baseball Classic.
Taiwan won a silver and three bronze medals during the Baseball World Cup format, which ended in 2011 and was replaced by the Premier12 and an expanded World Baseball Classic.
Back home, many in Taipei, New Taipei City, Taichung and Taoyuan cheered on Taiwan at viewings at city hall buildings, while sports arenas in Yilan, Hsinchu and Taitung counties and in Tainan also held viewing events. Taiwan’s Showtime Cinemas (秀泰影城) chain also sold tickets for those wanting to watch the match on the big screen.
Photo: AFP
Taiwan was the youngest team in the Premier12, based on player data from the WBSC.
WBSC statistics showed the age average of Taiwanese players was 24.5, followed by South Korea at 24.8, Japan at 25.2, Panama at 25.4, the Dominican Republic at 25.5, Australia at 25.7, Cuba at 25.8, Mexico at 25.9, the Netherlands at 26.1, Venezuela at 26.3, Puerto Rico at 26.5 and the US at 27.5.
Chen Chieh-hsien was also named the 2024 Premier12 MVP due to an explosive 0.625 hitting percentage with 14 hits in 22 at bats, including two homeruns.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
Prior to Saturday’s game, Taiwan was fined US$2,000 by the WBSC following complaints that it changed up its pitcher after learning it had already qualified for the final, the Chinese Taipei Baseball Association said.
Japan complained to the organizers that original Taiwanese starter Lin had been replaced with Chen Po-ching (陳柏清) after Taiwan learned it had qualified for the final due to the US beating Venezuela earlier that day.
Japan filed an official complaint to the WBSC, saying that Taiwan’s sudden move was unsportsmanlike.
Photo: CNA
Meanwhile, in the bronze-medal game, US starting pitcher Casey Lawrence gave up only four hits and no runs, and struck out seven in the first six innings, in the US’ 6-1 victory over world No. 4 Venezuela.
It was back-to-back wins for the US over their South American rivals from the group stage. On Saturday, the US edged Venezuela 6-5 to deny the Group A winners a chance at the championship title.
Yesterday, the US were on the verge of a shutout heading into the bottom of the eighth inning, after racking up two runs each in the third, sixth and eighth innings.
Photo: CNA
However, Venezuela staged an unsuccessful comeback in the bottom of the eighth, after designated hitter Hernan Perez scored off a sacrifice fly from second baseman Alexi Amarista.
It is the US’ first bronze in the tournament, after winning silver in the first edition in 2015. During the Baseball World Cup format, which ended in 2011, the US had four gold wins, behind only Cuba, who had racked up an impressive 25 over the tournament’s history.
Additional reporting by CNA
Photo: AFP
Photo: CNA
Photo: CNA
The combined effect of the monsoon, the outer rim of Typhoon Fengshen and a low-pressure system is expected to bring significant rainfall this week to various parts of the nation, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The heaviest rain is expected to occur today and tomorrow, with torrential rain expected in Keelung’s north coast, Yilan and the mountainous regions of Taipei and New Taipei City, the CWA said. Rivers could rise rapidly, and residents should stay away from riverbanks and avoid going to the mountains or engaging in water activities, it said. Scattered showers are expected today in central and
COOPERATION: Taiwan is aligning closely with US strategic objectives on various matters, including China’s rare earths restrictions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan could deal with China’s tightened export controls on rare earth metals by turning to “urban mining,” a researcher said yesterday. Rare earth metals, which are used in semiconductors and other electronic components, could be recovered from industrial or electronic waste to reduce reliance on imports, National Cheng Kung University Department of Resources Engineering professor Lee Cheng-han (李政翰) said. Despite their name, rare earth elements are not actually rare — their abundance in the Earth’s crust is relatively high, but they are dispersed, making extraction and refining energy-intensive and environmentally damaging, he said, adding that many countries have opted to
SUPPLY CHAIN: Taiwan’s advantages in the drone industry include rapid production capacity that is independent of Chinese-made parts, the economic ministry said The Executive Yuan yesterday approved plans to invest NT$44.2 billion (US$1.44 billion) into domestic production of uncrewed aerial vehicles over the next six years, bringing Taiwan’s output value to more than NT$40 billion by 2030 and making the nation Asia’s democratic hub for the drone supply chain. The proposed budget has NT$33.8 billion in new allocations and NT$10.43 billion in existing funds, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said. Under the new development program, the public sector would purchase nearly 100,000 drones, of which 50,898 would be for civil and government use, while 48,750 would be for national defense, it said. The Ministry of
UNITED: The other candidates congratulated Cheng on her win, saying they hoped the new chair could bring the party to victory in the elections next year and in 2028 Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmaker Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday won the party’s chair election with 65,122 votes, or 50.15 percent of the votes. It was the first time Cheng, 55, ran for the top KMT post, and she is the second woman to hold the post of chair, following Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱), who served from 2016 to 2017. Cheng is to succeed incumbent Eric Chu (朱立倫) on Nov. 1 for a four-year term. Cheng said she has spoken with the other five candidates and pledged to maintain party unity, adding that the party would aim to win the elections next year and
RSS