Taiwan routs Hong Kong 11-0 to reach Asian Games baseball super round

Taipei, Sept. 23 (CNA) Taiwan's men's baseball team on Wednesday advanced to the four-team super round at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games after defeating Hong Kong 11-0 in a game shortened to seven innings under the mercy rule.

The victory gave Taiwan a 2-1 record and second place in Group B, securing its place in the super round, also known as the placement round, alongside Group B winner South Korea.

The two teams will face Group A's top two finishers, Japan and China, in the super round, which begins Friday, with medals at stake.

Taiwan held a 2-0 lead through five innings, helped by a solo home run from Chen Hsiao-yun (陳孝允), before breaking the game open with five runs in the fifth.

The five-run inning included two hit-by-pitches, a fielding error, an RBI double by Liu Ji-hong (劉基鴻) and a three-run double by Yang Po-hsiang (陽柏翔), extending Taiwan's lead to 7-0.

Competing under the name Chinese Taipei, Taiwan added four more runs in the sixth inning on back-to-back home runs: a three-run homer by Liu and a solo homer by Chen Min-shih (陳敏賜).

Meanwhile, Taiwan starting pitcher Kuo Tzu-chuan (郭子銓) dominated on the mound, throwing six scoreless innings while allowing just two hits and striking out 10 Hong Kong batters.

Reliever Kuo Ting-hung (郭定宏) replaced Kuo Tzu-chuan in the seventh inning and retired the final three Hong Kong batters before the game ended early under the mercy rule.

Taiwan has won two gold medals in Asian Games baseball, most recently in 2006, along with four silvers and three bronzes.

South Korea leads the all-time Asian Games baseball gold medal standings with six, followed by Taiwan with two and Japan with one.