WELL-AGED: Although the youngest team in the tournament, Taiwan featured several veteran stars, including Sunday’s home-run hero Chen Chieh-hsien
Staff writer, with CNA, TOKYO
“I will never forget today,” veteran Taiwanese pitcher Chen Kuan-yu said after Taiwan on Sunday night blanked Japan to secure their first ever gold in the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s (WBSC) Premier12 championship.
Chen, who at 34 is the oldest member on the team, said Taiwan “made every difficult step to come to today’s victory. I will never forget today.”
Taiwan made history when they won their first gold medal of the Premier12 tournament, beating Japan in a 4-0 shutout victory in the final at the Tokyo Dome.
Taiwan’s Chen Chieh-hsien, third right, holds the trophy with teammates after beating Japan 4-0 to win the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s Premier12 title at the Tokyo Dome on Sunday night.
Photo: CNA
It was a jaw-dropping victory for many baseball commentators who went into the game with low expectations that Taiwan could defeat defending champions Japan.
Prior to Sunday, Taiwan lost to Japan twice in the Premier12 tournament, once in the group stage and again in the Super Round on Saturday.
Some experts had predicted that Taiwan would not make the final.
Taiwanese pitcher Lin Kai-wen, right, embraces catcher Dai Pei-fong after beating Japan to win the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s Premier12 championship at the Tokyo Dome on Sunday night.
Photo: CNA
Taiwan’s title win brought to an end Japan’s run of 27 consecutive international victories.
Chen, who played in three of this year’s Premier12 games, has competed in all three editions of the tournament since its inception in 2015.
Taiwan finished ninth in the inaugural Premier12, before advancing to the Super Round in 2019 and finishing fifth.
Taiwan won a silver and three bronze medals during the previous Baseball World Cup format, which ended in 2011 and was replaced by the Premier12 and an expanded World Baseball Classic.
Chen, who used to play professional baseball in Japan, said he had not imagined Taiwan could contain the Japanese batters in the final.
“The victory came as a surprise and it has led to a memorable retelling moment for me,” he said.
The WBSC said Taiwan was the youngest team among the 12 countries in the competition, with an average age of 24.5 years old, followed by South Korea at 24.8, Japan at 25.2 and Panama at 25.4.
Despite many young players, Chen is 34 years old, Chu Yu-hsien is 33, Kuo Chun-lin is 32 and Sunday’s home-run hero Chen Chieh-hsien is 30.
Bursting into tears after shutting out Japan, Kuo expressed gratitude to Taiwan’s younger players for their performance, adding that “as a veteran player, I cannot dominate the competition any longer, but it will be their era in the future,” he said.
“I expect Taiwan to win many more world championships and secure more golds,” he said.
As the youngest player for Taiwan, Lin Yu-min, a 21-year-old Arizona Diamondbacks prospect and a starter on Sunday, said that although many baseball fans had looked down on the team, he and his teammates were able to transform that into an inspiring power to lift their level of play.
Lin said all of the Taiwanese pitchers were great, while support from other team members was critical in stabilizing their performance.
Taiwan took a 4-0 lead in the top of the fifth inning thanks to a solo home run by catcher Lin Chia-cheng and a three-run homer by team captain and center fielder Chen Chieh-hsien against Japanese starter Shosei Togo of the Yomiuri Giants.
Taiwan’s manager Tseng Hao-ju praised Lin Chia-cheng for his excellent cooperation and training with Lin Yu-min, and his home run was a key turning point that gave the team a well-needed confidence boost.
Lin Chia-cheng said his arm was injured in the eighth inning of the game and would need treatment.
“I want to do more for the Taiwanese team if I get the chance,” he added.
Chen Chieh-hsien was named the Premier12 Most Valuable Player for his explosive 0.625 hitting percentage with 14 hits in 22 at bats, including two home runs.
