2023 Asian Championship

The 2023 Asian Championship was played from December 3 to December 10, 2023 in Taichung, Taiwan. Competing nations were Japan, South Korea, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, Philippines, Pakistan, State of Palestine and Hong Kong. It was to be the top four teams from the 2017 Asian Championship (Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, China) plus the top two teams from the 2023 East Asian Baseball Cup (Philippines, Hong Kong) and the top two from the 2023 West Asian Baseball Cup (Pakistan, Palestine) but China withdrew and was replaced by Thailand. It was the first international tournament to be held at the Taipei Dome.

Games[edit]

December 3[edit]

Chinese Taipei 4, South Korea 0. Jo-Hsi Hsu pitches a gem, with 10 K, 2 hits and no walks in 7 innings; Yi-Lei Sun adds two more strikeouts and two more hits in the final two to complete the shutout. SS Chen-Fei Lin has three of Taiwan's huts, nearly topping the entire South Korean team. Heon-min Shin lasted only two innings in a loss, while a bright spot for South Korea was C Sung-woo Kim's 2-for-3 performance.

December 4[edit]

Philippines 14, Thailand 4. SS Clarence Caasalan (4 RBI), C Mark Manaig (3 RBI) and RF Ferdinand Liguayan Jr. (3 H) lead the Filipino offense today while Vladimir Eguia allows one hit in five shutout innings, whiffing nine. Kiattisak Chutongrat is handed the loss.
State of Palestine 3, Hong Kong 1. The guys from Chicago win their opener behind the pitching of Southern Wesleyan's Steven Mufareh and David Powres, who fan seven. C Tariq Suboh reaches all four times and drives in two. Chun-Pui Mok and Ka-Ho Sam Leung battle Mufareh and Powres to a 1-1 score after 7 but Lai-Him Lam allows two runs late. 2B Cheuk-Kiu Chan scores the only run for the Asian team.
Japan 14, Pakistan 0. Mizuki Kato no-hits Pakistan for five before his bullpen gives up three late hits. RF/LF Motoki Mukoyama has three hits and six RBI, while 2B Yukiya Yano and 3B/2B Hiroki Nakagawa each score three. Musharaf Khan is the losing pitcher.

December 5[edit]

Philippines 4, Pakistan 2. The East Asian Cup champs top the West Asian Cup champs. Romeo Jasmin Jr. goes the distance with a four-hitter, and RF Ferdinand Liguayan Jr.'s two-run single off Jibran Aman Murtaza in the bottom of the 8th is the game-winner. RF Muhammad Younas drives in one of the Pakistani runs and scores the other.
South Korea 9, Hong Kong 0. Five South Korean hurlers combine on a four-hitter, the win going to Dong-hun Kang, while catchers Yong-seok Shin and Jeong-hun Seo drive in five. Kin-Nam Tsang gets the loss; half of Hong Kong's hits come off the bat of LF Tsun-Wai Yang.
Japan 16, Thailand 0. Japan routs another team as Sho Akiyama and Yoshiki Fuchigami throw a five-inning mercy rule perfect game. C Tatsuya Shirono drives in five runs. Suppakorn Lin gets the loss.
Chinese Taipei 19, State of Palestine 0. Jing-Yu Chang, Yu-Cheng Wu, Jen-Ho Tseng and Tzu-Chiang Li combine on a one-hitter, striking out 14 in 6 innings in a mercy rule romp. 14 Taiwanese players score, led by 3 runs from 1B Namoh Iyang. SS/CF Charles Haddad has the only hit for the Americans. Yunis Haleem is the losing hurler.

December 6[edit]

Pakistan 4, Thailand 1. Musharaf Khan throws a four-hitter and CF Wasim Akram has two hits and two steals as Pakistan gets their first win of the tournament. Thailand gets their only run in the 5th when 3B Alexander Clark drives in RF Sakai Phraechai. Suppakorn Lin falls to 0-2.
South Korea 19, State of Palestine 1. Four South Korean hurlers team up on a one-hitter, with Byeong-heon Lee getting the decision over Muhammad Abdelfattah. 2B Jun-jae Heong scores three, RF Sung-woo Kim drives in three off the bench and DH Seung-yeup Na drives in four in a 4 1/2 inning mercy rule rout. 3B Ibrahim Shalabi has his team's lone hit.
Japan 9, Philippines 1. Both teams had already locked up spots in the next round. Japan allows their only run in pool play but cruises again. CF Ryosuke Aizawa goes 2-for-2 with two walks, two runs and two RBI and Hiroki Suzuki gets the win. SS Kyle Soberano drives in CF Erwin Bosito with the run for the Philippines and Junmar Diarao gets the decision for them.
Chinese Taipei 17, Hong Kong 2. The hosts only need five innings for a mercy rule rout. 3B Ji-Hong Liu goes 4-for-4 with 4 runs and 4 RBI, falling a triple shy of a cycle. Yan-Fong Lai beats Lai-Him Lam as none of Hong Kong's five pitchers has a good day.

December 8[edit]

Hong Kong 12, Thailand 10. Hong Kong gets their first win, while Thailand remains winless, in a close match. Ka-Ho Sam Leung allows 3 runs (1 earned) in 6 though his bullpen is not as sharp, while Suppakorn Lin drops to 0-3. CF Tsz-Yin Jordan Wen has 3 runs and 3 RBI for Hong Kong, while CF Joe Daru droves in four and 3B Alexander Clark raps three hits for Thailand.
Pakistan 12, State of Palestine 3. Amaan Khan and Muhammad Amjad Aslam whiff 14, 11 by Aslam. C Umair Imdad Bhatti scores three and DH Fazal Ur Rehman goes 3-for-3 with 3 RBI. Ibrahim Shalabi gets the loss. 2B Dylan Renard has two hits and a run in a losing effort.
South Korea 8, Philippines 2. Six Korean hurlers combine to fan ten, the win going to Heon-min Shin and the loss to Kennedy Torres. 1B/2B Seung-yeup Na has 3 walks and 3 RBI for South Korea, while CF Erwin Bosito has two hits and a run to lead the Philippines.
Japan 1, Chinese Taipei 0. The unbeaten teams square off in a pitching duel. Shuichiro Kayo and Yoshiki Fuchigami strike out ten in ten innings, allowing five hits and no runs, but are matched well by Jen-Ho Tseng, Shao-En Lin, Yi-Lei Sun and Cheng-Hao Wang until the top of the 10th. In that inning, 1B Masashi Maruyama singled off Wang for his third hit of the game, driving in starting runner Hiroki Nakagawa.

December 9[edit]

Hong Kong 6, Pakistan 5. Pakistan takes their only loss of the placement pool, with a three-run pinch-hit double by Ho-Lam Andy Lo in the 9th being the decisive hit. Lai-Him Lam gets his first win after starting 0-2 while Jibran Aman Murtaza took the defeat. LF Raees Bashir reached three times for Pakistan.
Japan 5, South Korea 2. Japan remains unbeaten going into the title game. 2B Yukiya Yano has three hits and two runs. Sho Akiyama, Raiku Katayama and Tetsuyuki Fujimura combine to strike out 11. 1B Beom-sik Kim doubles and homers for South Korea, with Byeong-heon Lee getting the decision for them.
State of Palestine 4, Thailand 0. Thailand finishes winless as Steven Mufareh and David Powres team up on a six-hitter and Adnan Jaber has a three-run pinch-hit double in the 6th to break up a scoreless tie. Phanuwat Sukmuang blanks Palestine for five before flagging.
Chinese Taipei 2, Philippines 1. Taiwan moves into the finals with a close win over the Philippines. Yu-Cheng Wu allows four hits and one run in 7 1/3 IP and Tzu-Chiang Li saves it for him. SS Chen-Fei Lin has two hits, a walk and a run. CF Erwin Bosito drives in RF Ferdinand Liguayan Jr. with the Filipino run; Juan Paulo Macasaet gets the defeat.

December 10[edit]

South Korea 7, Philippines 0. Dong-hyeok Kim pitches no-hit ball for five innings and his relievers wrap up the shutout, though the no-hitter ends. 2B Jun-jae Jeong reaches three times and scores twice from the leadoff spot to help his team win Bronze. The only Filipino hits are from LF Kyle Soberano and C Mark Manaig, with Romeo Jasmin Jr. getting the loss despite a quality start.
Japan 1, Chinese Taipei 0. The title game winds up with the same outcome as the prior Japan-Taiwan match-up, 1-0 for Japan. Mizuki Kato, Yoshiki Fuchigami and Shuichiro Kayo scatter seven hits (two apiece by 1B Namoh Iyang and LF Wun-Jie Chen). Jo-Hsi Hsu and Shao-En Lin fan 10 and give up just five hits, but in the third, RF Noriyuki Hashimoto has a one-out single, 2B Yukiya Yano reaches on a force but Ching-Kai Lin made an error on the throw to first. With Yano now on second, CF Motoki Mukoyama singles in Yano with the only run. Japan turned three double plays.

Awards[edit]

MVP: Motoki Mukoyama, Japan
Outstanding Defensive Player: Ching-Kai Lin, Chinese Taipei

All-Star Team[edit]

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