Chinese Taipei win eighth straight, get home-field advantage in World Championship Final

World No. 5 Chinese Taipei defeated No. 1 Japan in the last game of the Super Round, 5-2. With the win, Chinese Taipei extended their winning streak in the XXXI WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup to eight and earning home-field rights for the World Championship game.

Chinese Taipei showed they came to play from the first out. Left fielder Ting Lun Hsu got leadoff hitter Ryusei Terachi with a sliding catch. Starter Wei Che Tseng allowed a two-out walk in the bottom of the first. Cleanup hitter Riku Takeda worked the count full, then delivered an opposite-field double to give Japan the lead.

Chinese Taipei wasted no time and reversed the lead in the bottom half of the frame. Right-hander Koki Takahashi allowed back-to-back walks to begin his game. With runners at the corners and one out, Nian Hao Wang reached on a dropped fly ball, and Chinese Taipei tied the game. Another run scored on a wild pitch, and Chinese Taipei extended the lead on Chia Wei Lin's RBI single.

In the bottom of the second, Japan handed the ball to Kodai Mori. The reliever allowed a leadoff walk. Hsin Chiu got to him with a base hit to right field, bringing the runner to third.
A deep fly by Ting Lun Hsu was caught by centre fielder Minato Maruda. The ball proved to be deep enough to allow Meng Chih Hu to score on the sacrifice fly.

Chia Wei Lin hit a one-out double in the bottom of the third. He reached third as Hsuhn Chieh Lee singled and scored on Chao Hung Chao's sacrifice fly.

Kotaro Yasuda took the mound for Japan in the bottom of the fifth and worked two scoreless innings

Wei Che Tseng left after five solid innings. He allowed only two walks and two hits. His reliever Yen En Wang inherited a 5-1 lead with six outs to go.

Ren Ogata led off the top of the sixth with a single. He stole second with two outs and scored on Kazuki Takanaka's single. The third baseman reached second on the play. Wang struck out Shinnosuke Chibana to end the inning. He would face only four batters in the top of the seventh.

Chinese Taipei will play their third consecutive U-18 Baseball World Cup final. They appeared in 12 World Championship Games and won three titles, the last in 2019 in Gijang, Korea.

Japan have appeared in four finals and never won the title. They played their last final in 2015 on home soil in Osaka. They lost against the United States.