BASEBALL/Taiwan baseballers return home after historic Premier12 title

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.

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."

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