TAIPEI (TVBS News) — President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) congratulated Team Taiwan for the milestone of advancing to the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier12 Super Round on Monday (Nov. 18) after their 2-0 victory over Cuba. With Monday's win, Taiwan will head to the Tokyo Dome (東京巨蛋) in Japan, setting their sights on the championship.
President Lai announced that the first game of the semifinals will start on Thursday (Nov. 21) and urged the nation to rally behind their heroes. Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) also praised the team's combined pitching and hitting efforts on Facebook, highlighting their shutout victory against Cuba.
In the Group B preliminaries, Taiwan's team began with a win against South Korea on Nov. 13, thanks to home runs by Chen Chen-wei (陳晨威) and Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲). The following day, Huang Tzu-peng (黃子鵬) pitched six scoreless innings, leading to a victory over the Dominican Republic. Despite a loss to Japan in the third game, the team rebounded with 15 hits to defeat Australia.
Team Taiwan excelled in their Nov. 18 game, securing a 2-0 shutout over Cuba and achieving a commendable four-win record. As the team prepares for the semifinals, anticipation builds for their performance in Tokyo.