After failing to protect an early lead, previously unbeaten Taiwan came up short against Japan by a 6-2 margin in the final game of the Super Round Robin of this year’s IBAF Under-21 Baseball World Cup at the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium yesterday afternoon.
Even though the outcome carried no bearing for the hosts in terms of their chances of contesting this evening’s title game — since Taiwan and Japan already secured their tickets to the final on Friday — a win would have given the young squad a huge mental boost as they look to keep the title at home.
“A win would have been nice, but I’m still very optimistic about our chances in the title game,” Taiwan skipper Kuo-Lee Chien-fu said after the game.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times
His troops have come a long way in the tournament, while maintaining their composure to carry a perfect record into yesterday’s contest.
Their ability to rebound from a setback will be tested as they take their vanquishers this evening.
The highly anticipated showdown between the two previously unbeaten teams lived up to its billing in the early going, as starters Kentaro Taira of Japan and Taiwan’s Liu Yu-yen held their ground in a scoreless affair through the third.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times
Taira’s luck ended in the fourth, when he issued a leadoff walk to Taiwan’s Su Chih-chieh and a single to Yang Tai-chun, before surrendering a two-run double to Wang Po-jung to put Japan 0-2 behind.
Taiwan would have scored another run in the inning had it not been for a perfect relay throw by the Japan defense, which gunned down Wang at the plate on Chen Chieh-hsien’s single to end the inning.
The home side’s 2-0 lead lasted just one inning, as the visiting Samurais finally broke through in the sixth with Liu out of the game, connecting on a pair of singles on top of a walk off reliever Huang Tzu-peng to tie the game at two-all.
Photo: CNA
Even though Huang left the inning without further damage, the momentum had clearly shifted in favor of Japan as they loaded up the bases with two singles and a walk off Huang’s successor, Chang Kai-lun, to set up Seiya Suzuki’s tie-breaking three-run triple. All three of the runs were unearned against Chang after an erroneous throw by catcher Wu Ming-hung on what would have been an inning-ending double-play extended the inning to bring Suzuki to the plate.
That made the difference as the Taiwan bats could not make up the deficit, going hitless from the seventh on to lose by four in the end.
Toshike Sakurai was credited with the win for his four innings of two-run relief to beat counterpart Chang, who fell victim to the costly error by Wu that led to Japan’s go-ahead runs.
The two teams will again suit up to do battle in tonight’s tournament final at the Intercontinental, with the opening pitch scheduled for 6:30pm.
Soccer officials yesterday offered “full support and assistance” to the Iranian team in Australia for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup after the US and Israel launched massive attacks on their homeland. Iran’s 26-strong squad arrived on the Gold Coast days before the strikes on Saturday killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as Washington and Tel Aviv seek to topple the Islamic republic. They are due to open their tournament today against South Korea. The AFC in a statement said it “continues to closely monitor the recent developments in the Middle East during this challenging period.” “The AFC’s foremost priority remains the welfare, safety and
ROAD RASH: Marc Marquez retired after a crash, marking the first time after 88 consecutive races stretching back to 2021 that a Ducati bike failed to make the podium Marco Bezzecchi yesterday won the MotoGP season-opening grand prix in Thailand from pole position as defending world champion Marc Marquez retired late with a buckled wheel. Aprilia’s Bezzecchi led from start to finish to top the podium in Buriram, with KTM’s Pedro Acosta second and Trackhouse’s Raul Fernandez third. Ducati’s Marquez is chasing a record-equaling eighth world title this season, but he exited the race in dramatic fashion while in fourth place with five laps to go. The Spaniard, who started from second on the grid, took a corner wide, with the jolt to his bike dislodging the rear tire, badly damaging his
EVERY DAY A VICTORY: Players on the women’s team faced pressure from society just getting out onto the field as they prepare for their first Women’s Asian Cup game today Bangladesh’s national soccer team face daunting odds at their first-ever Women’s Asian Cup, but have already scored a major victory by qualifying. In the South Asian nation of 170 million, social stigma, family expectations, poverty and religious hardliners have long relegated women and girls to sports sidelines. The first women’s soccer league matches took place in 2011 and the squad, known to fans as the Red and Green, have kept pressing forward despite deeply embedded prejudices. “Many more girls would have joined us if the community had been even slightly supportive,” captain Afeida Khandaker told AFP ahead of her side’s March 3
Liverpool on Tuesday suffered an embarrassing 2-1 defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers as Andre’s stoppage-time strike sealed a dramatic victory for the English Premier League’s bottom club. Arne Slot’s side fell behind to Rodrigo Gomes’ strike in the closing stages at Molineux. Mohamed Salah hauled Liverpool level with his first goal in 11 top-flight games dating back to November last year. However, Andre’s first goal for Wolves inflicted the latest humbling loss in a chastening season for Liverpool. It was the first time the Premier League’s bottom club had beaten the reigning champions since Crystal Palace defeated Chelsea in 2017. Liverpool
RSS