Premier12 title tops Taiwan news topics in 2024
One of the most popular social media news platforms in Taiwan, Line Today announced their “Top Ten News 2024” with Chinese Taipei winning the WBSC Premier12 2024 presented by RAXUS being named the No. 1 news in Taiwan in the year of 2024. Olympic-related news, such as Chinese Taipei Olympians Chi-Lin Wang and Yang Lee successfully defending their badminton double gold, and boxer Yu-Ting Lin winning gold came in sixth.
According to Line Today, the average single-game online viewing numbers of CPBL (per game) on the Line Today platform surpassed the NBA Finals for the first time in its broadcast history.
Before the first pitch of the WBSC Premier12 2024 was thrown, some media ranked Chinese Taipei second-to-last out of all 12 participating teams. According to evaluations on offense, mobility, defense, starting rotation, bullpen, and experience, Chinese Taipei scored only 35 points out of 100 and was ranked 10th, tied with Panama and only ahead of Australia.
Defying all the odds that recognized Chinese Taipei as an underdog, they stayed on course and fought through the tournament. Chinese Taipei first defeated Korea in the opening game with a score of 6-3 before they edged the Dominican Republic 2-1, followed by a loss to defending champions Japan, 3-1. Chinese Taipei then collected back-to-back wins against Australia and Cuba, securing a berth to the Super Round with Japan, who finished the Opening Round undefeated with a 5-0 record.
In the first game of the Super Round, Chinese Taipei lost to Venezuela, 2-0, despite producing more hits than their opponent. In the crucial game against USA, Chinese Taipei broke the game open by scoring five runs in the seventh to ultimately defeated USA 8-2. The victory also marked the first win over USA in an adult-level tournament for the first time in 21 years since the Baseball World Cup 2003).
With USA defeating Venezuela in the day game on the final day of the Super Round, Chinese Taipei advanced to the Gold Medal Game for the first time in 32 years (since the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona). Chinese Taipei lost to Japan in the final game of the Super Round but in the final, with the solo shot from catcher Lyle Lin and the three-run home run by captain and eventual tournament MVP Chieh-Hsien Chen, Chinese Taipei snapped Japan’s 27-game winning streak to win the global championship for the first time in Chinese Taipei baseball history.
The Gold Medal Game between Chinese Taipei and Japan saw at least 6,000 fans flying from Taiwan to Tokyo to deliver their full support to the Chinese Taipei team. Back home, TV ratings in Taiwan saw tournament-historic highs, with more than six million people watching the game simultaneously at one point. Tens of thousands of fans were also on the streets and plazas, joining the watch parties throughout the island to witness the historical moment when Chinese Taipei first baseman Yu-Hsien Chu completed the glorious gold-medal-winning double play that sent Chinese Taipei to its first historical global championship.
Chinese Taipei returned to Taiwan heroically, with fighter jets firing flares and receiving water gun salutes at the airport, parades in different cities, and media exposure in countless public appearances ever since. Baseball fever is expected to continue not only through the holiday seasons but also through the upcoming World Baseball Classic Qualifier and the CPBL 2025 season and beyond.