Team Taiwan yesterday won a second consecutive title at the U-12 Asian Baseball Championship in Matsuyama, Japan — the team’s eighth championship in total — after defeating South Korea 5-1 in the final.
Taiwan secured two wins and one loss to finish second in division B, losing only to South Korea 0-1.
On Wednesday, the team thrashed China 16-0 and on Thursday edged Japan 1-0 to reach the final yesterday.
Photo courtesy of the CTBA
After a delay of one hour due to rain, Taiwan’s Su Yu-hsiang (蘇宇翔) was sent to first base, before successfully stealing second base after the South Korea pitcher’s wild pitch.
A bunt from Lin Wei-yen (林瑋諺) brought Su back across the home plate, marking the first run for Taiwan.
Lin stole his way to third base and was brought home with a hit by Sung Yi-le (松以勒), while Sung stole his way to second base after a wild pitch, then crossed home plate when Chou Chen-chuan (周震泉) knocked out a two-base hit.
Photo courtesy of the CTBA
South Korea then changed their pitcher to turn the tide, but Taiwan’s Yang Nian-hsien’s (楊念先) hit and a subsequent base steal caused the catcher to fumble, resulting in Chou bringing home the fourth run.
Yang Po-hsun (楊伯勛) then brought Yang Nian-hsien home with another two-base hit.
Taiwan pitcher Huang Li-huan (黃立桓) initially felt stress in the bottom half of the first inning, but pitched the six innings, sending down 77 pitches and giving up only four hits.
Taiwan in 2012 missed the chance to maintain their six-championship winning streak when they came second, but they have now won gold in three out of the four championships since 2014.
Taiwan have qualified for next year’s World Baseball Softball Conference U-12 Baseball World Cup to be held in Tainan.
Separately yesterday, Japan crushed China 10-0 in the match-up for the bronze medal.
All three Japan pitchers used ensured that no China player made a hit throughout the six-inning game.
Additional reporting by CNA
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS