BASKETBALL/'I will never forget today,' says Taiwan veteran pitcher after WBSC Premier12 win

Tokyo, Nov. 25 (CNA) "I will never forget today," veteran Taiwanese pitcher Chen Kuan-yu (陳冠宇) said after Taiwan's national baseball team beat Japan to secure its first ever gold in the WBSC Premier12 Championship Games Sunday night.

Chen, the 34-year-old pitcher and oldest member of Team Taiwan, which competed under the name of Chinese Taipei in the international sports tournament, said the team "made every difficult step to come to today's victory. I will never forget today."

The Taiwanese squad made history on Sunday, securing its first-ever gold medal in the WBSC Premier12 Championship with a commanding 4-0 shutout victory over Japan in the final held at Tokyo Dome.

It was really a jaw-dropping victory for many baseball commentators who went into the game with low expectations that Taiwan would defeat strong favorites Japan. Prior to Sunday, Taiwan and Japan faced each other two times during the 2024 Premier12 with Taiwan losing both matches.

Some experts had even expected Taiwan to not make the finals in Japan.

Taiwan's triumph on Sunday also brought to an end the Japanese team's run of 27 consecutive international victories.

Chen, who played in three of the WBSC Premier12 Championship Games, was taking part in the Premier12 for the third time, having competed in all three tournaments since the competition's inception in 2015.

Taiwan finished ninth in 2015 before advancing to the Super Round in 2019 and finishing fifth.

The pitcher, who used to play professional baseball in Japan, said he had not imagined Taiwan would contain the Japanese batters in the final and "the victory came as a surprise and it has led to a memorable retelling moment for me.

The WBSC named Team Taiwan the youngest team among the 12 countries in the WBSC 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, Team Taiwan captain Chen is 34 years old, Chu Yu-hsien (朱育賢) 33, and Kuo Chun-lin (郭俊麟) 32.

Bursting into tears after shutting out Japan, Kuo expressed gratitude to the younger players in Team Taiwan for their effort to win the champion, adding "as a veteran player, I cannot dominate the competition any longer, but it will be their era in the future," he said, referring to the younger ones.

"I expect the Taiwanese team will be able to win many more world championships and secure more golds," Kuo said.

As the youngest player in the Taiwanese team, Lin Yu-min (林昱珉), a 21-year-old Arizona Diamondbacks prospect and a starter in the competitions against Japan on Sunday, said although many baseball watchers had looked down on the team, he and his colleagues were able to turn that into an inspiring power to lift their level.

Lin said all of the pitchers in the team were great, while support from other team members played a critical role in stabilizing their performance.

Team Taiwan took an early 4-0 lead thanks to two home runs in the top of the fifth inning -- one solo by catcher Lin Chia-cheng (林家正) and another three-run homer by team captain and center fielder Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲) -- against Japanese starter Shosei Togo of the Yomiuri Giants.

Taiwan's manager Tseng Hao-ju (曾豪駒) praised Lin Chia-cheng for his excellent cooperation with pitcher Lin Yu-min by working on many studies, and his home run made a key contribution as the hit encouraged the whole team.

In response, Lin Chia-cheng said his arm was injured in the eighth inning of the game and he will return to Taiwan for treatment. "I want to do more for the Taiwanese team if I get the chance."

Chen Chieh-hsien was also named the 2024 Premier12 MVP due to an explosive 0.625 hitting percentage with 14 hits in 24 at bats, including two homeruns.