FINAL DAY BASEBALL 5 YOUTH ASIA CUP
Chinese Taipei stamped their superiority in the inaugural Baseball 5 Youth (U18) Asia Cup at the Berjaya Times Square Manhattan Ballroom in Kuala Lumpur when they defeated China 2-0 (10-5;5-4 ) to wrest the title.
Chinese Taipei had earlier in the morning continued their winning streak to qualify for the final after they defeated fourth placed Korea after the opening rounds, 2-0 (1-11; 0-1) in the Super round match.
China booked their berth in the final defeating host Malaysia 2-0 (3-0; 3-1) after a closely fought battle.
Chinese Taipei who had defeated China in the opening rounds in a close fought battle 2-1 (1-6;11-0;7-4), won the final in an equally tough situation, as they won 2-0 (10-5; 5-4).
China tried hard to outdo Chinese Taipei, but the latter were a more technically sound team.
Both Chinese Taipei and China as finalists also qualified for the World Cup, with Korea taking the third slot for Asia, when they defeated Malaysia 2-1 (9-10 tie breaker inning; 8-1; 7-3) in the third placing match.
Chinese Taipei coach Lin Chao Huang, was elated with his team’s success.
“We came here to win the title and that we have won it unbeaten is indeed remarkable,” said Lin.
“Having qualified for the World Cup, we have more work to be done to do equally well at the world stage.
“We hope to do Asia proud at the World Cup.”
In the third placing match, Malaysia who had defeated Korea 2-1 (2-5; 14-0; 5-3) in the opening rounds, saw the table turned round against them by a determined Korean side who won 2-1
While Malaysia won the first match by their skin of teeth in the tie breaker, the loss of shortstop Andrew Soh in the tie-breaker after a collision with Korean player, saw the team affected morally and in strength.
Muhammad Adam Mukhriz who replaced Andrew for the second match, was not as effective and team itself while were good in defence, but were letdown in attack as they went down 0-14 and 3-5 in the next two matches and see their World Cup dream dashed.
Malaysia coach Winson Low said his players lost concentration after Andrew’s injury and exit.
“Andrew is our key player and his exit affected the players and lost concentration. It is sad that we failed to book the World Cup berth, but the players gave their best under the circumstances and the short stint we has before the tournament,” said Winson.
Koreans on the other hand, deserved the World Cup berth as they were a more all round better team.
Baseball5 is WBSC’s new urban version of Baseball-Softball. This new 5-on-5 sport discipline was officially introduced by WBSC in 2017, where you need only bases, 1 ball and a filed-of-play measuring 1800 cm x 2100 cm. Hence the name “base + ball + 5”, Baseball5”.
Since its introduction, it has grown exponentially all over the world because of its “Sport made simple” concept. The Youth category of this new sport-discipline has been included in the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar 2026.
TODAY’S FINAL DAY RESULTS:
(Placement matches are over one match and Super round matches are best of three matches).
India (QR 7) 3 Hong Kong (QR 6) 10 – Placement round
Korea (QR 4) Chinese Taipei (QR 1) – 2-0 (1-11; 0-1) Super round
India (QR 7) 1 Singapore (QR 5) 16 – Placement round
Malaysia (QR 3) China (QR 2) – 0-2 (1-3; 1-3)Super round
Hong Kong 11 (QR 6) Singapore 7 (QR 5) – Placement round
Medal round
3rd placing: Korea 2 Malaysia 1 (9-10- tie breaker inning; 8-1; 7-3)
Final: China 0 Chinese Taipei 2 (5-10; 4-5)
FINAL RANKINGS:
- Chinese Taipei
- China
- Korea
- Malaysia
- Hong Kong
- Singapore
- India
STANDINGS AFTER OPENING ROUNDS ON FRIDAY
- Chinese Taipei (6 wins-0 losses)
- China (5-1)
- Malaysia (4-2)
- Korea (3-3)
- Singapore (2-4)
- Hong Kong (1-5)
- India (0-6)