BASEBALL/Taiwan rallies support for Premier12 baseball players ahead of title match

Taipei, Nov. 24 (CNA) With Team Taiwan set to face defending champions Japan at the final of the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier12 tournament in Tokyo on Sunday, local municipalities and businesses have organized live screenings to rally fan support.

In addition to live broadcasts on platforms such as ELTA Sports and Hami Video streaming services, and VL Sports and EBC News on Taiwan's cable channels, fans also have the option to gather at designated locations to watch the game.

People in Taipei, New Taipei, Taichung and Taoyuan can head to their city hall buildings to cheer on the players.

The Taoyuan City government has also set up a viewing event in Terminal One at Taoyuan Airport.

Sports arenas in Yilan, Hsinchu and Taitung counties as well as in Tainan have set up viewing events and Taiwan's Showtimes Cinemas chain is selling tickets for those wanting to watch the match on the big screen.

Meanwhile, the confederation released player data for all the 12 countries in the WBSC competition and named Taiwan the youngest team.

WBSC statistics show the age average of Taiwanese players was 24.5 years old, followed by South Korea at 24.8, Japan at 25.2, Panama at 25.4, the Dominican Republic at 25.5, Australia at 25.7, Cuba at 25.8, Mexico at 25.9, the Netherlands at 26.1, Venezuela at 26.3, Puerto Rico at 26.5, and the United States at 27.5.

However, despite many young players, Team Taiwan captain Chen Kuan-yu (陳冠宇) is 34 years old, Chu Yu-hsien (朱育賢) is 33, and Kuo Chun-lin (郭俊麟) is 32.

Chen is participating in the Premier12 for the third time, having competed in all three tournaments since the competition's inception in 2015