TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s Baseball5 team won the inaugural Asia Cup tournament on Friday (Aug. 19) by beating Japan in two out of three rounds of the final.

Taiwan emerged undefeated in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and secured its spot at the first Baseball5 World Cup in Mexico, scheduled for Nov. 7-13. Coach Kuo Yong-chi, a former player for the Fubon Guardians baseball team, led the team to a series of stunning victories in Malaysia over the past week.

Taiwan was entirely undefeated (5-0) going into the Asian Cup final on Friday (Aug. 19). CNA reported that after losing the first round to Japan with a score of 2 vs. 3, Taiwan held strong and routed Japan in the second round with a score of 4 vs. 2. Then, in an action-packed game three, Taiwan took the championship with a score of 12 versus Japan’s 9 runs.

Baseball5 is a new urban sport that developed in Central America. The rules are similar to baseball, but the sport requires only a small rubber ball to play. Men and women play together on teams of five, hence the name Baseball5.

According to World Baseball-Softball Confederation (WBSC)-Asia Baseball5 Commission, Softball Asia President Dato’ Low Beng Choo, Baseball5 was introduced by the WBSC in 2017. At the 2022 inaugural Asia Cup (and World Cup qualifier), nine national teams competed, including Taiwan, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, China, Thailand, Pakistan, South Korea, and the Philippines.

In addition to Taiwan, Japan and South Korea also qualified for spots at the 2022 World Cup in Mexico.