Chinese Taipei national baseball team
| Country |  Republic of China (Taiwan) Competes as  Chinese Taipei |
|---|---|
| Federation | Chinese Taipei Baseball Association |
| Confederation | Baseball Federation of Asia |
| Manager | Yeh Chih Shien |
| World Baseball Classic | |
| Appearances | 2 (First in 2006) |
| Best result | 12 |
| Olympic Games | |
| Appearances | 4 (First in 1984) |
| Best result |  Silver (1992) |
| World Cup | |
| Appearances | 14 (First in 1972) |
| Best result | Silver (1984) |
| Asian Games | |
| Appearances | 5 (First in 1990) |
| Best result |  Gold (2006) |
The Chinese Taipei baseball team (traditional Chinese: 中華臺北棒球代表隊; pinyin: Zhōnghuá Táiběi Bàngqiú Dàibiǎoduì), is the national team of the Republic of China (commonly known as "Taiwan"). It is governed by the Chinese Taipei Baseball Association. They are recognised internationally as one of the most elite baseball teams in the world. They are currently the fifth ranked baseball team in the world,[1] just behind South Korea. They have constantly maintained their top position in Asia (with occasional drops such as the 2008 Beijing Olympics and rises like the 2009 Asian Baseball Championship) and is ranked as the second best baseball team in Asia since the 1970s.
Due to political pressures from the People's Republic of China on international sports organizations, the delegation had to reach a compromise name, changing it from the National Baseball Team of the Republic of China (traditional Chinese: 中華民國棒球國家隊; pinyin: Zhōnghuá Mínguó Bàngqiú Guójiāduì) to Chinese Taipei Baseball Team.[2]
The team is often considered as one of the top three baseball teams in Asia, along with Japan and South Korea. The team comprises amateurs and professionals from Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League, Japan's Central League and Pacific League, and North American major (MLB) and minor leagues. Chinese Taipei is currently ranked 5th in world baseball rankings, and is right behind Japan.
The team has participated in many of the international and regional tournaments and has achieved many successes. It has won six titles in Asian Baseball Championship, a bronze medal at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, and a silver medal at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona. Its recent success was the winning of the gold medal at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha in a sweeping victory by beating South Korea, Thailand, China, Philippines, and finally all-time rival Japan.
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Name controversy
In 1954, when the team first participated in the Asian Baseball Championship, it competed under the name of United Team of Taiwan. Since the expulsion of the Republic of China from the United Nations in 1971, the National Baseball Team of the Republic of China was forced to compete internationally under the name of Chinese Taipei because of the People's Republic of China's diplomatic pressure through the One China Policy. In Taiwan it is both referred to as 中華隊 (hanyu pinyin: Zhōnghuá Duì; literally, Chinese (cultural) team) or 台灣隊 (hanyu pinyin: Táiwān Duì; literally, Taiwanese team).
Regional competition
Asian Baseball Championship
Chinese Taipei has a very successful history in participating the Championship. It has finished 4 times in the first place, 7 times in the second place and 10 times in the third place. The team competed again in the 2007 Asian Baseball Championship which was held in Taiwan.
In the 2009 Championship, Chinese Taipei sought their revenge against their humiliating defeat by China at the 2008 Beijing Olympics with an obliterating win of 13-1, crushing the Mainland Chinese baseball team. They proceeded on to the finals against their old time rival Japan. Japan won the match and took the title with a narrow score of 6-5, putting Chinese Taipei in second place.
Asian Games
Chinese Taipei has not missed any of the Asian Games since its first appearance in 1990 in Beijing, PRC China. In Beijing, it finished in first place, however, it was a demonstration sport thus it did not receive any medals. Its second appearance was in 1994 where it finished in third place. In 1998, it again finished in third place. Chinese Taipei lost to South Korea in 2002 in Pusan, South Korea and hence finished in second. It was by far its best result. At the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, Qatar, a game-winning walk of hit by Lin Chih-sheng helped to win its first Asian Games baseball gold. The team received seventy million New Taiwan Dollar from the Republic of China (ROC)/Taiwan government for their excellent achievement in Doha.
Doha Asian Games, 2006
International competition
Intercontinental Cup
The team's first appearance at the Intercontinental Cup was in 1973. Since then, the team has won two bronze medal, one in 1983 in Belgium and the recent one in 2006 in Taiwan. Taiwan did not participate in the 1975, 1979, 1981, 1993 and 1997 Intercontinental Cup. It is currently ranked 7th in the Medal Winner Ranking.[3] Cuba, Japan, Nicaragua and the United States remain Taiwan's four biggest rivals in the Intercontinental Cup.
As the host of the recent 2006 Intercontinental Cup, Taiwan won its second bronze medal after beating Japan in the 2006 Intercontinental Cup final 4-0.
Olympic Games
Barcelona Olympics, 1992
On 26 July 1992 and the following ten days, Chinese Taipei competed against seven other national teams from Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Italy, Japan, Puerto Rico, Spain and the United States at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. The teams played each other seven rounds and the top four on the table advance to finals. Chinese Taipei eventually advanced to the finals, beating Japan 5-2 in the semi-finals. It struggled in the final against Cuba, suffering an enormous defeat. The score was 1-11. Nonetheless, it won a silver medal which is still now its best result ever achieved in the Olympics.
Game Summary
26 July 1992 - Round 1, Chinese Taipei defeated Italy 8-2.
27 July 1992 - Round 2, Chinese Taipei lost by one run to the United States. The final score 9-10.
28 July 1992 - Round 3, Chinese Taipei sought its second victory over the Puerto Ricans. The score was 10-1.
29 July 1992 - Round 4, Chinese Taipei dominated the Spanish. The final score was 20-0.
31 July 1992 - Round 5, Chinese Taipei beat the Dominican Republic eleven to nothing.
1 August 1992 - Round 6, Chinese Taipei faced one of its two main rivals from Asia - Japan. It acquired its fifth victory by beating Japan 2-0
2 August 1992 - Round 7, in the final round, Chinese Taipei suffered another defeat to the Cubans. This time Chinese Taipei scored only one run. The score was 1-8.
4 August 1992 - Semi-final, Chinese Taipei defeated Japan 5-2 and would played against Cuba in the final.
5 August 1992 - Final, Chinese Taipei was defeated by Cuba. Final score 1-11.
Athens Olympics, 2004
Chinese Taipei qualified for the 2004 Olympics by finishing 2nd in the Asian Baseball Championship. The team ended up finishing 5th in the tournament.
World Baseball Classic
Chinese Taipei participated in the 2006 World Baseball Classic. The squad included players from Major League Baseball. During the Classic, the team played in Pool A but ended up being the third place and did not advance. Their only victory was a 12-3 win over China. In the 2009 WBC, the team played in Pool A against the same teams as in 2006. After losses to South Korea and China, Chinese Taipei was eliminated from the tournament, finishing in 14th place.
Beijing Olympics, 2008
The team qualified for the 2008 Olympics by finishing 3rd place in the Final Qualifying Tournament.
On August 15, Chinese Taipei lost to China for the first time in an international baseball event. However, it had been suspected by DPP legislators that Beijing set up the schedule unfair to Chinese Taipei. Chinese Taipei was scheduled to play the latest game the day before. It was estimated that the players could only get three hours of sleep.[4] This allegation has been rebuked by the governing party KMT as playing politics over baseball games as well as by the International Olympic Committee as common scheduling practice. The IOC further gave examples of other games being scheduled in a similar matter
The team finished 5th in the tournament.
2009 Asian Baseball Championship
In the final round of the tournament, Chinese Taipei defeated 2008 Olympic baseball champions South Korea with a 5-4 victory. Their next match was played against China, whom they lost to for the first time in history at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Chinese Taipei would end up with a 13-1 victory in 7 innings (game ended due to mercy rule) over China. The team would then play a final decisive game against their long-time rival Japan. The Japanese team won 6-5 and took the championship title, having gone 3-0 in the final round. Chinese Taipei would finish as the runner-up, with 2 wins and 1 loss in the last round of the tournament.
2009 IBAF World Cup
Chinese Taipei participated in the 2009 Baseball World Cup, which occurred between September 9 and September 27, 2009. The team went 1-2 in the first round, losing to Mexico and Australia, but winning against Czech Republic. Chinese Taipei would enter the second round as a wild card. Chinese Taipei went 5-2 in the second round, pulling off victories against Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Australia, and Mexico. The team qualified easily for the final round, but finished in 8th place, going 1-6 and losing the match for a 7th place title.
Jersey
Before 1984
Home
Away
1984-1999
Home
Away
1999-2003
Home
Away
2003-Present
Home
Away
Honours
- Asian Baseball Championship
- 1st place, 1983 (Together with Japan and South Korea), 1987, 1989 (Together with Japan and South Korea), 1991, 2001
- 2nd place, 1955, 1969, 1985 (Together with South Korea), 2003, 2005, 2009
- 3rd place, 1959, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1967, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999
- 4th place, 1954, 1975
- 5th place, 1971
- Asian Games
- 1st place 1990 (Demonstration sport), 2006
- 2nd place, 2002
- 3rd place, 1994, 1998
- Intercontinental Cup
- 3rd place, 2006
- Olympics
- 2nd place, 1992
- 3rd place, 1984 (Demonstration sport)
- 5th place, 2004
- 5th place, 2008
- World Cup of Baseball
- 2nd place, 1984
- 3rd place, 1986, 1988, 2001
- 4th place, 1982, 2003
- 5th place, 1973
Records
- Largest win — Republic of China 30 - 0 India
, (Japan, 26 August 1987) - Worst defeat — Republic of China 3 -20 the Netherlands
, (Belgium, 15 July 1983)
See also
- Asian Baseball Championship
- Chinese Professional Baseball League
- Intercontinental Cup
- List of the Chinese Taipei baseball team squad at the 2006 Asian Games
- List of the Chinese Taipei baseball team squad at the 2006 World Baseball Classic
- Taiwan Series
- World Baseball Classic
- World Cup of Baseball
- One-China policy
- Cross-Straits relations
References
- ↑ "IBAF World Rankings". http://http://www.ibaf.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Files_-_world_rankings/World_Rankings_ENG.htm. Retrieved 2009-06-09.
- ↑ "101 of Taiwan's Baseball". Taiwan E-learning and Digital Archives Program. 2006-11-16. http://culture.ndap.org.tw/culture/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=76&Itemid=1.
- ↑ Baseball - Intercontinental Cup
- ↑ Liberty Times (in Traditional Chinese)
External links
- Chinese Taipei Baseball Association Official Website
- The Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games
- Taiwan Culture Portal: The pride and sorrow of Taiwan adult national baseball teams (in English)
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