TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan has been ranked number two in the 2021 annual world men’s baseball rankings.

World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) released the results on Friday (Jan. 21). Japan, which won the gold in baseball at the Tokyo Olympics last year, came out on top.

Taiwan, or “Chinese Taipei” as the country’s team is officially known in the confederation, was ranked number two, according to a UDN report.

The WBSC aggregates overall scores from the children’s U12 competitions to the professional leagues. It uses a four-year window of time, meaning the rankings for 2021 reflect the results from 2018 to the present.

Taiwan had been in third place in August 2021, trailing South Korea, but after a score update, came out ahead with 3321 points, while Seoul had 3137 points. Since 2020, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, very few international baseball games are currently being held.

Taiwan’s 2021 ranking has been boosted from its earlier wins in 2018 and 2019 in several underage competitions. Mexico did well too, edging ahead of the U.S. to take fourth place, making it the country’s highest-ever ranking.