Havana, March 8 (RHC) – Chinese Taipei achieved an unprecedented victory over South Korea today in 10 innings with a tight score of 5-4 and kept alive their hopes of advancing to the quarterfinals of the World Baseball Classic.
It could well be said that the – for many – surprising victory was built on home runs, as Yu Chang opened the scoring in the second inning with a four-bagger, which Tsung-Che Cheng then repeated in the sixth.
History repeated itself in the eighth inning, when, after Kun-Yu Chiang reached first base on a hit, Stuart Fairchild came to bat and hit a home run.
The South Koreans, for their part, scored one run in the fifth inning, driven in by a single from Bo Gyeong Moon, and two more in the sixth, these on a two-run homer by Do Yeong Kim. Finally, in the eighth, they scored their fourth run, secured with a double by Kim himself.
With the score tied at four after nine complete innings, Chinese Taipei decided the outcome of the game in the tenth, although this time not with long-range hits but with a pair of sacrifice bunts that brought Shao-Hung Chiang home.
The outstanding performance of South Korean third baseman Do Yeong Kim was outstanding in the game. With a home run and a double in five at-bats, he drove in three of his team’s four runs. For Taipei, Tsung-Che Chang stood out, going 2-for-4 with a home run.
Yi Chang earned the win, while Woo-Suk Go took the loss, and Jyun-Yue Tseng recorded the save.
Both Chinese Taipei and South Korea now have two losses: Taipei fell to Australia (0-3) and Japan (0-13), while South Korea lost to Japan (6-8) and Taipei (4-5) on Sunday.
The second game of the day will be between the Japanese “Samurai” and the Australian team, the only two teams that remain undefeated so far.
The 2026 WBC tournament brings together twenty teams divided into four groups, who will play a round-robin initial phase.
The top two teams from each group will advance to the quarterfinals (March 13 and 14), and in the case of Group C, the qualifiers will travel to Miami, Florida, which will also host the semifinals (March 15 and 16) and the final (March 17).
