BASEBALL/Sadaharu Oh to throw first pitch ahead of Taipei Dome 1st int'l game

Taipei, Nov. 22 (CNA) Baseball legend Sadaharu Oh (王貞治) will throw the first pitch at the newly completed Taipei Dome on Dec. 2 before the 30th Asian Baseball Championship begins the following day, according to Taiwan's Chinese Taipei Baseball Association (CTBA).

Oh will be joined by World Baseball Softball Confederation President Riccardo Fraccari, CTBA President Jeffrey Jr. Koo (辜仲諒) and Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) during a ceremony held for the championship held by Baseball Federation Asia (BFA), the association said in a statement Wednesday.

In addition to the ceremony, the guests will also be given a tour of the new baseball stadium, where two test games were held on Nov. 14 and 18, according to the statement.

A press conference will be held on the afternoon of Dec. 2 to announce the start of the baseball championship, with hosts Taiwan facing South Korea in the opening game of the tournament the following day, the association said.

The eight-day tournament will take place at the Taipei Dome, Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium and New Taipei's Xinzhuang Baseball Stadium, according to the BFA.

Taiwan and South Korea are in Group A of the championship along with Hong Kong and Palestine, while Japan, the Philippines, Pakistan and Thailand compete in Group B, before the super round scheduled on Dec. 8-9 and the finals on Dec. 10, the schedule released by the BFA showed.

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