Taipei, July 29 (CNA) Taiwan defeated host country Japan 2-1 on Monday to secure its 12th International Boys Nankyu Baseball World Championship (IBA-Boys), an international tourney for players under the age of 12.
This year, the team representing Taiwan was from Guanxi Elementary School in Hsinchu County, with Wang Yi-hsiang (王奕翔) of Taiwan being named the most valuable player of the three-day tournament that ended on Monday in Saitama.
Down 1-0 after the opening stanza, the young Taiwanese finally evened the score in a pitcher's duel with a run in the fifth inning, and a solo home run by Chiang Cheng-en (江承恩) in the sixth gave the visitors their winning margin.
After the game, Taiwanese head coach Chi Yen-ting (紀諺廷) complimented Chiang for his performance.
"His home run came at a critical time to secure the victory," said Chi, who also praised his team for holding up under the pressure to the very end.
The pitchers, meanwhile, did an excellent job of keeping Japanese hitters at bay, the head coach said.
The 37th IBA-Boys tourney consisted of 12 teams from nine countries -- the United States, Taiwan, Brazil, Australia, Argentina, Peru, Singapore, South Korea and Japan, with two teams from the U.S. and three from Japan.
Taiwan last won the championship in 2016, with a team of players from Shou Tian Elementary School in Kaohsiung. It also won the championship in 1983, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1992, 2000, 2001, 2006, 2008 and 2012.
(By Sie Jing-wun and Ko Lin)
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