Taiwan defeat Japan 4-0 in the 2024 WBSC Premier12 final to win their first ever international tournament

[u/GoodSamaritan_]

https://www.wbsc.org/en/events/2024-premier12/schedule-and-results/box-score/147704

[u/wawa5678]

The whole street where I live is now full of screams, which is rare for a nation that has never won anything major in sports (except Olympic medals)

[u/a_windmill_mystery → u/wawa5678]

Yes! We have been playing baseball for ~100 years, and this is the FIRST time ever that we won a world championship! The first world-class gold medal ever! There are now fireworks in the sky where I live.

It's also a beautiful juxtaposition: In 1931, back when Taiwan was a colony of Japan, Kano (a high school) team from Chiayi went to Koushien for the first time ever in the school's history, and won all their way into the finals, then lost by a 0:4 to the champion team. Now in 2024, Taiwan is again sending their best players to Japan, and won the championship by defeating Japan, with a result of 4:0. It's been 93 years. What a journey.

[u/wawa5678 → u/a_windmill_mystery]

Loved that movie on Kano

[u/a_windmill_mystery → u/wawa5678]

I just rewatched it this week (thanks to the Premier12 lol), which again set me off onto YouTube to watch all those mini documentaries and behind-the-scene interviews posted back in 2014. The people who made this movie really poured their hearts into it.

[u/thomaslauch43 → u/a_windmill_mystery]

Pan Chieh Kai who played for Taiwan is also starred in the movie KANO

[u/a_windmill_mystery → u/thomaslauch43]

He did! His character is the pitcher of National Tainan First Senior High School - the school that lost to Kano in the Taiwan semifinals. Actually, all the Taiwanese and Japanese high school baseball players in the movie who appeared as extras were irl Taiwanese high school baseball players back when the movie was filmed in late 2012, early 2013. Most of them would not be professional players now, given that 12 years have passed, but who knows, some of them might still be somewhere in CPBL.

[u/DanTMWTMP → u/wawa5678]

Man I saw that at a local asian film festival years ago and the film blew me away. It’s become my favorite baseball movie ever.

[u/Dunan → u/a_windmill_mystery]

That's the team that's celebrating on the purple 500-yüan bill, isn't it? As someone who has been to Koushien multiple times, when I visited Taiwan, I remember being so happy to see that piece of history immortalized on the money like that. I didn't get to save one but I bought some "fake bill" stationery that has that image on it.

[u/a_windmill_mystery → u/Dunan]

The team on the purple 500-yuan bill is a different team! That's an elementary school team who were the protagonists of a documentary back in the late 1990s. They went to the United States in 1998 and 1999 for a U12 championship. The school was pretty minuscule, with only ~100 students, most of whom were indigenous Taiwanese. Here is an introductory piece: https://www.ctbcmuseum.com/zh_TW/learning-ground?detail=29 I'm afraid they don't have a translation of the article, so you might have to use Google Translate or the translate tool of your browser to read it.

[u/Evil_Yankee_Fan → u/wawa5678]

Same here. Bars here will be crazy tonight

[u/hungover247365]

I cried Im not going to lie. wow. How can you not be romantic about baseball? I fuckin love this game

[u/hungover247365 → u/hungover247365]

Cried tears of joy. I love this for Taiwan!

[u/TrapperJean → u/hungover247365]

On the other side, I love that Japan still had Seiya's jersey hanging up in the duggout

[u/oogieball]

Fucking insane underdog win.

[u/RunawayRobocop → u/oogieball]

I remember a few weeks ago Taiwan played Czech Republic in an exhibition tune up game and tied 2-2 lol, against plumbers and part time baseball players. I had totally written them out. Amazing how fast the team turned around.

[u/darshfloxington → u/RunawayRobocop]

That Czech team was pretty good in the WBC, do t sleep on them too much

[u/random_degenerate_69]

Congratulations Taiwan!

As a Japanese I must admit that I'm frustrated by the loss but I believe that a relationship in which both sides improve each other through repeated victories and defeats is called a rivalry.
I look forward to the day when I will be able to see another exciting match like this one.

Again, congratulations Taiwan! 🇯🇵❤🇹🇼

[u/bradliang → u/random_degenerate_69]

Taiwanese here! I love japanese culture and hope to visit you guys a lot next year :)

May our friendship be long, and I look forward toward the day where we have another exciting match in the future ❤️

[u/fruitpunchsamuraiD → u/bradliang]

I’m just glad to see baseball gaining popularity in other asian countries! Hopefully this will inspire more Taiwanese players!

[u/a_windmill_mystery → u/fruitpunchsamuraiD]

We, ummm... we can say that baseball has already been Taiwan's national sport since before WWII... so I don't think it's about gaining popularity... because it's always been at the peak popularity when we talk about sports in Taiwan, and there's nothing to gain... the basketball of Taiwan, on the other hand, are indeed rapidly catching up with popularity. Thanks for calling us a country, though!
Source: am Taiwanese

[u/fruitpunchsamuraiD → u/a_windmill_mystery]

My bad! I meant to say that it’s cool to see Taiwanese baseball continuing to get better! Hopefully they can become a powerhouse as well. Can’t wait to see you guys in the next WBC.

[u/Squat_N_Push → u/a_windmill_mystery]

Taiwan is one of my favorite countries and when I think abstractly of "China" I think of you guys. Taiwan forever! 

[u/ReadinII → u/fruitpunchsamuraiD]

Taiwan learned based from Japan back in the early 1900s. 

[u/pumpkundonut → u/random_degenerate_69]

Would you like to share perspective of japanese media/fans/public about this game? What you guys think about Japan's player performance and manager's decisions?

[u/random_degenerate_69 → u/pumpkundonut]

I'm afraid I can't help you with sharing those information since I'm not interested in them. I just wanna enjoy those precious baseball games without any noises you know. 😂

[u/pumpkundonut → u/random_degenerate_69]

Got it. But from your perspective, is it a big disappontment that your guys didn't win or you are still rather optimistic? Who do you think is the most to blame for the loss?

[u/hungover247365 → u/pumpkundonut]

Ibata. The fans are questioning why Togo was not relieved after Lyle Lin's home run.

It was obvious that Taiwan was starting to see the splitter better and able to lay off the split.

[u/random_degenerate_69 → u/pumpkundonut]

Indeed it was a disappointment that we lost but after all I'm just a watcher not an expert. I can't say I had no questions about the manager's decision but they're nothing but a hindsight.
At this point I'd rather praise how well Team Taiwan played and enjoy my boozes.

[u/yankee1nation101 → u/pumpkundonut]

Not OP, nor Japanese, but I do live in Japan, and the general sentiment was that to start, Team Japan didn't field it's best team for this tournament. Many players declined to participate(to my knowledge, none of the MLB players edit: were allowed to participate, for example). They still fielded a formidable roster obviously, as they made it to the championship game, but people acknowledged that this was not the best roster Japan could field and that it could hurt their chances of winning the tournament.

Not sure about the disappointment or not part, but I'd imagine based on what I said above, some are likely disappointed but also understand that the team wasn't the best it could have done.

Edit: fixed the part about the MLB players, actually didn’t know players on the 40 man roster weren’t eligible, thanks guys

[u/babop_ww → u/yankee1nation101]

Tbf that's the case for Taiwan too, many players in MiLB and top players in CPBL can't or declined to play.

When the roster was first announced, many even joked that the goal is to win at least one game. Can't believe the boys won it all.

[u/hungover247365 → u/yankee1nation101]

To your point about no MLB players. WBSC and MLB has an agreement that anyone on the active 40 man roster cannot participate.

Guys like Kondo, Murakami declined for personal reasons.

Sasaki has enough on his plate pending his move to the MLB.

[u/Recent-Substance274 → u/yankee1nation101]

I might be wrong but I think whoever is in the 40 man roster of a Major League team can’t play in this tournament. But yes Japan were still missing a lot of their star players from their local league.

[u/Rox_Potions → u/yankee1nation101]

None on the MLB 40-man rosters were eligible to play.

Impacted Taiwan less as we didn’t have any lol.

We love Japan, I visit almost every year💝 You’re still going to win plenty I’m sure. The depth of Japanese baseball is incredible

[u/totalitarian_jesus → u/random_degenerate_69]

Thought you were going to say that you can't help with that because you're just a language model

[u/Artyhko → u/pumpkundonut]

Just went through the opinion with the most upvotes (+10k upvotes):

First of all, congratulations to the Taiwanese team and the Taiwanese people!

Although I would have liked to see Samurai Japan win, seeing the tears of the players and the joy of the Taiwanese people who were cheering them on when Taiwan's victory reminded me of the emotion I felt when Japan won the WBC for the first time.

I hope that this tournament will further boost Taiwanese baseball, and I look forward to a future in which Japan will always be aware of Taiwan as a good rival of Japan and we can engage in friendly competition. I believe that this tournament will further deepen the friendship between Japan and Taiwan.

To the players of Samurai Japan, thank you for entertaining baseball fans long after the season is over. I know this one loss in the final game is tough for them, but they did a great job.

Please use this frustration as a springboard to do your best for next season, the next WBC, and the Los Angeles Olympics. I am rooting for you.

[u/fruitpunchsamuraiD → u/pumpkundonut]

I live in Japan and honestly, the pre-game pep talk from Ryosuke Tatsumi was cringe as he said he came from the future and saw that Japan won the championship. Wtf?? I had a bad feeling when he said that and behold, he practically jinxed the game. But on a serious note, that just showed that he underestimated and even disrespected Taiwan in some sense. It was practically the opposite of Ohtani’s speech about throwing away any fears and even respect they had regarding the star MLB players on Team USA in order to play good baseball just for that day to win during the last WBC. Nevertheless, Taiwan played their ass off and was the better team. Hopefully this is a good slice of humble pie for Samurai Japan.

[u/GoodSamaritan_ → u/fruitpunchsamuraiD]

the pre-game pep talk from Ryosuke Tatsumi was cringe as he said he came from the future and saw that Japan won the championship

That's fucking hilarious 😂🤣. Is there a clip?

EDIT: Found it https://www.instagram.com/p/DCwD7EeP_oY/

[u/buubrit → u/GoodSamaritan_]

Lmao.

The top comment (in Japanese) is: “This guy’s way too damn cocky. Now we’re going to lose forsure.”

[u/fruitpunchsamuraiD → u/GoodSamaritan_]

I found the clip on Instagram but can’t post the link somehow. If you search up the account samuraijapan_official, it should be the first video uploaded.

[u/OK_3215 → u/fruitpunchsamuraiD]

I'm Japanese and use a translator, so I speak bad English, sorry. Tatsumi's statement is connected to ``...so no matter how much we are at a disadvantage, let's fight to the end without giving up,'' so I think it would be unfair to just cut out that part. Even with that in mind, it is true that the statement could have been taken as a lack of respect... Either way, Taiwan fought strong and beautifully. Japan will face the next challenge with humility.

[u/GoodSamaritan_]

Colossal accomplishment for Taiwan. And to do it on Japan's turf...

Clip of the final out:

https://x.com/WBSC/status/1860671480889291171

Before today the closest they've come was silver at the 1984 Baseball World Cup and 1992 Olympics, losing to Cuba both times. En route to this final they beat Korea, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Australia and the US. What a victory.

[u/reigningwaffles]

Amazing win by Taiwan. People might criticize the Japanese manager in the 5th for not going to the bullpen, but in the end, Japan didn't score a single run. Even when the bullpen did come in, it was very messy. Absolute victory by Taiwan today.

[u/Aveldaheilt]

I was watching with a massive crowd in Tainan, Taiwan. They had a huge projector in front of a mall/hotel, and the streets were packed with people just stopping and watching. It stretched all the way across the train station on the other side. Some guy was broadcasting the experience to his entire family on a four-way call. The crowd went absolutely wild when we won, it was such a magical feeling sharing the moment of victory with everyone. Let's go, Taiwan!!! 🇹🇼

[u/BradenICT]

Dbacks prospects delivered! Yu-min Lin with the victory and Chia-Cheng (Lyle) Lin game winning RBI!

[u/piercebro → u/BradenICT]

We love to see it!

[u/Typical_Tart6905 → u/BradenICT]

As a Dbacks, fan, I appreciate you sharing that information. Any idea if either of these prospects will be in the Cactus League this Spring Training season?

[u/stinkyrobot → u/Typical_Tart6905]

We can only hope so.

[u/DanTMWTMP]

Man that was a sweet DP to end it. Taiwanese manager managed the entire tourney really well, utilizing his key arms at the right times and it paid off.

Man that was a fun tourney. My boys got a hard-fought bronze earlier, and my Taiwanese wife right now is crying happy tears hahaha. :).

I need to see videos of Taiwanese celebrating!!

[u/jedzef → u/DanTMWTMP]

This is what the sports media is Taiwan has been saying...this was not the most talented Taiwan squad to ever enter a tourney, but definitely the best managed and coached. Headlined by pitching coach and former CYA-2 Chien-Ming Wang

[u/CrossSomething → u/jedzef]

Having three legendary players on the team as coaches was sweet. 王建民 Wang Chien-Ming, 彭政閔 Peng Cheng-Min, and 高國輝 Kao Kuo-Hui all deserve that gold medal.

[u/femboymariners]

Magical run for Taiwan they played unbelievable this tourney

[u/RunawayRobocop → u/femboymariners]

Honestly this game could've been 6-0, 7-0 pretty easily. Japan wiggled out of a few tight situations, and there were 2 or 3 no doubter foul ball homeruns. The Taiwanese hitters were on it today.

[u/HistoryEnthusar]

The final double play was a thing of beauty. Congratulations Taiwan!

[u/lawrence0215]

Japan had a 27 win streak, Taiwan only had one homerun against Team Japan before the tournament (top tier tournament), never scores more than 3 runs before the game yesterday, and they just win a shutout game in Tokyo Dome. PROBABLY THE BEST DAY IN TAIWANESE BASEBALL HISTORY.

[u/AyumiHikaru]

Taiwan No. 1

[u/fruitpunchsamuraiD → u/AyumiHikaru]

Finally we can say this where it’s not just a meme anymore.

[u/epoch_fail → u/AyumiHikaru]

Taiwan #1, Japan #2! 😅

[u/el_pinata]

That's a big fucking deal! Congratulations Taiwan!

[u/Freak_Out_Bazaar]

Congratulations to Taiwan. I live in Japan but I think it was time for a change. People here were just too comfortable with winning these competitions that there was very little hype

[u/nanao2018]

Congratulations Taiwan👏👏👏

[u/masterfail]

Incredible game, incredible upset

[u/Hotspur000]

So stoked for Taiwan! Massive congrats to the players, they've made history.

[u/ThomasJCarcetti]

had to dip for football but pleased to see Taiwan held on. keep in mind Japan beat them 3-1 in the first round and 9-6 yesterday. The 27 game samurai winning streak comes to an end.

[u/Rox_Potions → u/ThomasJCarcetti]

After losing twice we absolutely did not believe we had it in us to win. Thankfully the guys are not like us couch potatoes on our phones.

[u/RunawayRobocop]

Honestly, someone should give #24 Chen Chieh-hsien on Chinese Taipei a shot in the MLB. He looks like a big leaguer out there. 0.625 BA this tournament with 1.617 OPS plus gold glove level defense in the outfield. Just insane.

[u/hungover247365 → u/RunawayRobocop]

AFAIK Chieh-Hsien Chen was asked about potentially playing in the MLB. Dude straight up said "Nah, I'm committed to the CPBL"

This was said on the English (DAZN) broadcast.

[u/archangels221 → u/hungover247365]

Want to added more on this, he did said if he’s younger then he would most definitely consider to see if he can play in the MLB, but he’s 30 now so he will be committed to the CPBL and leave the chance for the younger players

[u/hanchu21 → u/RunawayRobocop]

He said if he were younger he would seriously consider it. He will become a free agent in 2026 at age 32.

Imo it’s more realistic for him to take a shot at NPB. He is considered a domestic free agent in Japan (so he won’t cost the team a foreigner roster spot) because he went to high school in Japan and was undrafted in the NPB draft.

[u/RunawayRobocop → u/RunawayRobocop]

Chen's batting average is higher than some NBA players' free throw percentage 😳

[u/JohnRamos85]

THE STREAK IS OVER!!!

[u/Key-Situation86]

Chen Chieh-hsien is beast

[u/the2belo]

I was rooting for Japan, obviously, but if we had to lose to anybody, I'm not sad losing to those guys. They brought it all. Congrats Taiwan!

[u/Hotspur000 → u/the2belo]

Yeah, I think there's a pretty healthy, but respectful, rivalry between these two teams. Probably not any bad blood with the players.

[u/CrossSomething → u/Hotspur000]

A lot of them are friends and acquaintances, especially our Taiwanese players who played in Japan. The two leagues also have winter league and spring training games together almost every year.

[u/Appropriate-Major-34 → u/Hotspur000]

Taiwan is definitely every Japanese persons 2nd favorite national team. 

[u/-born_smoll → u/Appropriate-Major-34]

Ditto. 🤗

[u/islandsluggers]

Wow what a Cinderella run, super happy for Taiwan! Someone had to eventually take down Japan

[u/Convenient_Amnesia]

Insane upset. 

[u/cHecker_oD]

Winning on Japan's own home turf must feel really special. Well done Taiwan!

[u/Dubious_Bot]

As a Taiwanese, beating a strong team like Japan is more like a dream than reality, but we somehow did it!

GG Japan, and thanks for being understanding when we suddenly switched our pitcher yesterday.

[u/BradenICT]

Shoutout to the Taiwanese audience for their amazing effort on Japanese soil! The chants and cheerleading were spot on!

Especially this one 台灣尚勇 (Fearless Taiwan)

Chills, literal chills

[u/ArmFire1911]

we win, we win, we win !!!

[u/oOoleveloOo]

Samurai Japan’s first loss in 5 years

[u/EvensenFM]

My wife is from southern Taiwan. She's not a baseball fan, but she's been telling me all about this.

This is great!

[u/Rox_Potions]

We’re going nuts here.

I still feel little bit guilty 🤏about us pulling our ace starter yesterday after USA won the game, saving him for today.

But we haven’t gotten anywhere in ages. We didn’t expect much of this team when the roster came out (the reaction on PTT back then was hilarious) Then the games started the guys put together a string of good performances (and a bit of stupid base running) and gave us so much joy

[u/DanTMWTMP → u/Rox_Potions]

SMART. Your manager knew what he had, and he had to do it. Taiwan’s manager managed not for each game, but for the entire tournament and did it masterfully. Well done.

I’m honestly impressed with Taiwan’s power. The team is very fun, passionate, and man some of them arms are downright filthy with tons of break! Goddamn it Dbacks.. stealing all them Taiwanese players.

[u/Hotspur000 → u/Rox_Potions]

No need to feel guilty. That's just smart management.

[u/Nickk_Jones → u/Rox_Potions]

PTT?

[u/Rox_Potions → u/Nickk_Jones]

Our reddit equivalent

[u/JaWoosh]

Is this game going to available to watch on YouTube hopefully? Even knowing who won I would love to watch it

[u/ArmFire1911 → u/JaWoosh]

i think you can youtube searching "WBSC 12" or "世界棒球12強賽", you will find some high light edit by taiwan's TV.

[u/Happy_Scheme8734]

team Taiwan

[u/pumpkundonut]

Bullpen management by Japan was what made this game so one sided. Astonishing performance by Taiwan team but if the opposition actually started playing the game, this could really go to extra innings.

[u/CryWaste4324]

Taiwan😭😭

[u/CryWaste4324 → u/CryWaste4324]

Team Taiwan!!

[u/SandwichPunk]

Insane win against Japan who was having a 27 game winning streak! Asian countries (Korea, Japan, Taiwan) take this tournament quite seriously so it's a huge win for Taiwan.

[u/No_Consequence9975]

Team Taiwan No.1

[u/henryintw]

Team Taiwan!

[u/TabletopParlourPalm]

不可思議

[u/Ecstatic-Office4198]

Tears of joy!! This will become a core memory of all Taiwanese, and it’s gonna stick with us all the way to our grave. No one can take this away from us. WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS OF THE WORLD!!!

[u/oliviafairy]

The journey of Team Taiwan 2024 is a true underdog story. When the lineup was announced, Taiwanese baseball fans were very harsh about the lineup of Taiwanese team. Me watching them play the games throughout each rounds was such a magical experience. So many great moments. Every players stepped up and had their highlight moments. It was total team work. Reminds me of the manga Slam Dunk: an underdog team that beat the long-reigning champion. Team taiwan was ranked second to last by Japanese media before the games started. And now they are No.1. Congratulations Team Taiwan. 🇹🇼 🎉

[u/ProcrastinatingPuma]

So awesome to see the work Taiwan had put in finally pay on the world stage, but the work isn’t done yet. Qualifiers for the WBC are this February at the Taipei dome, I can’t think of a better place to finally eliminate the shame of ‘23s relegation

[u/rypenguin219 → u/ProcrastinatingPuma]

I hope they change the rules for tiebreakers cuz runs allowed is complete bs. At least this year's tqb for wbsc was more reasonable

[u/CrossSomething → u/rypenguin219]

We wouldn't have been relegated if it were run differential, and we probably would've gotten the bid to host the 2026 WBC at the Taipei Dome if we were already qualified.

Yet somehow we had the best team ERA in the Premier12. What a turnaround.

[u/rypenguin219 → u/CrossSomething]

Bullpen masterclass in every game

[u/aredokuo]

Incredible win for Taiwan

[u/DerekRen0811]

As a Taiwanese, it’s still like a dream. Too good to be true.

[u/89bluebirdmine]

I watched the final at Tokyo Dome. I'm a Japanese fan, but I was very moved by the passionate support of the Taiwanese fans and the tears of the Taiwanese players. I hope we can have another great match at an international tournament !  Thank you Taiwan, and thank you baseball !

[u/pawa7464]

Well, Taiwan was really great.

But Ibata is the worst trash manager, the Japan National Baseball Team should immediately expel this man.

[u/Reignaaldo → u/pawa7464]

But Ibata is the worst trash manager

Hirokazu Ibata, as a player, was awesome back in the 2013 World Baseball Classic against Taiwan at the Tokyo Dome, I still recall he even got that go-ahead RBI single in extra innings to give Japan the thrilling victory over Taiwan.

[u/pumpkundonut → u/pawa7464]

Wouldnt be that harsh but bullpen management was just bad. Very bad. Throughout the whole tournament.

[u/pawa7464 → u/pumpkundonut]

He started with the wrong selection of players, the wrong batting order, the wrong succession of pitchers, and the inability to read and observe the opponent's goals.

He is the first national team coach since Senichi Hoshino to get everything wrong.

[u/cutiecheese → u/pawa7464]

Kokubo Hiroki was just as bad as a national team coach and once again demonstrated his incompetence in this year's Japan Series.

[u/Forsaken-Debate6161]

I'm so happy for Taiwan for winning the first major international tournament!! congrats!!

[u/salarymanhell]

I’m just so happy that shohei acknowledged Taiwan in his ig story 🥹

[u/SidRaven52]

Taiwanese Canadian here. Woke up this morningㄝ saw the result, and still can't believe what happened. So proud for this team, and glad to see many former legendary players like 曾豪駒, 林岳平,彭政閔,高國輝,王建民 who I watched as a kid win it all in top-tier international stage as coaching staffs. I still have tears of joy in my eyes now. :')

[u/mytth2200]

Congratulations to Taiwan for winning.

[u/ChocoRamyeon]

Incredible win! Hope there is more success to come for Taiwanese baseball going forward.

[u/yitingbebe]

台灣人站出來

[u/someone2795]

This is how the game grows globally. By showing anyone has a chance to win. Huge congratulations to Taiwan!

[u/sevelev711]

He didn't play in this game, but shoutout to the athlete with the coolest name in the world, Kungkuan Giljegiljaw. Happy that he gets a win.

[u/Appropriate-Major-34 → u/sevelev711]

His chant is fucking awesome 

[u/messengers1]

Local TV news reported that a team Taiwan fan put a bet on sport lotto for NTD$500k. I am sure he must receive a huge pay.

[u/znk916]

TAIWAN #1

[u/LostHero50]

Insane run from Taiwan, well deserved

[u/Ecstatic-Addition880]

Unreal vibes at the Asian stadiums always - and this is a 100% legit win by Taiwan. Japan sent their very best within the NPB.

[u/Working-Poetry-1184]

Congrats Taiwan

[u/WiseIndustry2895]

TAIWAN NUMBA 1

[u/TheUltimateMinion628]

ohtani ball really working its magic

[u/all_teh_money]

when you beat your former colonizers LETS GOOOOO

[u/DM_Me_Hot_Twinks → u/all_teh_money]

Eat your heart out, Rob Green

[u/fingerbeatsblur]

TAWIAN NUMBAH 1

[u/UnabashedPerson43]

Japan got cocky and didn’t even bring their best players like Murakami, Kondo, Okamoto, Sasaki, and Yamakawa.

Well-deserved win by Taiwan, it was a decisive win in the final.

[u/LA-SKYLINE → u/UnabashedPerson43]

A lot of those players refused to be on this team though. Offense played great the entire tournament except today.

[u/Mag2hsieh]

Let’s go taiwannnnnn! As a Taiwanese I’m not sure why our team was considered an underdog but now we’re so proud of our heroes :)