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BASEBALL/Taiwan baseballers return home after historic Premier12 title

11/25/2024 10:50 PM
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Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (second left) poses for a group photo with pitching coach Wang Chien-ming (left), Taiwan's manager Tseng Hao-ju (center), team captain Chen Chieh-hsien (second right) and coach Lin Yueh-ping. CNA photo Nov. 25, 2024
Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (second left) poses for a group photo with pitching coach Wang Chien-ming (left), Taiwan's manager Tseng Hao-ju (center), team captain Chen Chieh-hsien (second right) and coach Lin Yueh-ping. CNA photo Nov. 25, 2024

Taipei, Nov. 25 (CNA) Taiwan's national baseball team returned home Monday night to a huge crowd of fans after making history by upsetting defending champion Japan in the WBSC Premier12 Championship game in Tokyo a day earlier.

The team, which clinched Taiwan's first ever gold medal in a top-level international baseball tournament, arrived at Taoyuan International Airport at 8:47 p.m., with Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) among the more than 1,000 fans waiting to greet the players.

To celebrate the win, President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) ordered four F-16 fighter jets to escort the plane carrying the baseball team as it approached the Taoyuan airport, and the plane also received a water salute at the airport.

Team Taiwan players pose for a photo on their return at Taoyuan International Airport on Tuesday. CNA photo Nov. 25, 2024
Team Taiwan players pose for a photo on their return at Taoyuan International Airport on Tuesday. CNA photo Nov. 25, 2024

Some of the fans said they asked for a half day off to head to the airport, where they held up posters and sang fan chants to show support for the title-winning team.

One of the fans, Lin Shu-ping (林書平), told reporters that he came to see team captain Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲) because he found Chen's ability to keep a smiling face no matter what happened as truly inspiring.

Lin, a fitness coach who asked for a day off on Monday to be at the airport, said it should have been "a public holiday for baseball."

Taiwan defeated Japan 4-0 in the championship game of the Premier12 tournament on Sunday, the first time it had won a championship in a major international tournament, such as the World Baseball Classic, the Olympics and the Premier12.

Chen's decisive three-run homer in the fifth inning of Sunday's win and his Premier12 leading .632 batting average secured him the tournament's MVP title.

After smashing a three-run homer, he posed with two hands in front of his chest as he circled the bases, a gesture that stirred discussion on the internet.

Speaking at the airport upon his return, Chen told the media "it was very encouraging to hit a big homer at a key moment."

Taiwan's captain, center fielder Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲), celebrates after smashing a three-run homer in the top of the fifth to put Taiwan up 4-0 on Sunday. CNA photo Nov. 24, 2024
Taiwan's captain, center fielder Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲), celebrates after smashing a three-run homer in the top of the fifth to put Taiwan up 4-0 on Sunday. CNA photo Nov. 24, 2024

"With that gesture, I wanted to tell everyone: we are players from Taiwan," he said.

(By Wu Jui-chi, Matt Yu, Chen Jung-chen and Elaine Hou)

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Fans welcome their return at the Taoyuan airport. CNA photo Nov. 25, 2024
Fans welcome their return at the Taoyuan airport. CNA photo Nov. 25, 2024
Fans welcome their return at the Taoyuan airport. CNA photo Nov. 25, 2024
Fans welcome their return at the Taoyuan airport. CNA photo Nov. 25, 2024
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