Korea matchup is the most popular matchup." Taiwanese baseball's popularity filled with 40,000 seats in Taipei Dome, and the dome stadium shone even more when it rained

South Korea lost 0-4 to Taiwan in the opening match of Group A of the "30th Asian Baseball Championship" at Taipei Dome in Taipei, Taiwan, on the 3rd. The South Korean batting line-up was blocked by Taiwanese starting pitcher Xu Luoxi (Weiquan) with 10 strikeouts in seven innings and eventually lost without a score.

The Asian Baseball Championship is not a competition that receives much attention in Korea. The national team was also led by first to third-year players who did not have much first-team experience and next year's rookie players. Park Joo-chan, 27, is the oldest player and the only player born in the 1990s.

On the contrary, Taiwan formed a powerful force with a large number of Taiwanese professional baseball star players participating. Although Lin Yu-min (Arizona), who made the Korean national team in trouble at the Hangzhou Asian Games in September, was included in the entry, Taiwan prepared for this tournament with sincerity to the extent that his participation failed at the end.

There is a reason why Taiwan, which has always come out with a strong power in the Asian Baseball Championship, is more powerful in this tournament. This is because the opening of Taipei Dome, Taiwan's first dome stadium, will be held.

Taipei Dome is a long-cherished business for Taiwanese baseball fans that took more than 30 years from planning to construction. Construction began in 2006, but construction was repeatedly halted for political, financial and administrative reasons, and it was finally completed this year.

To celebrate the opening of Taipei Dome, Taiwan invited Softbank Hawks Chairman Oh Sadaharu (Wang Jung-jung), who can be called a hero of Taiwanese baseball. Sadaharu Oh is a Japanese baseball legend who hit 868 home runs in the Japanese professional baseball league and the best Taiwanese baseball player in history. Osadaharu, who entered Taiwan on the 1st, threw the first pitch at the opening ceremony of Taipei Dome on the 2nd, a day before the Asian Baseball Championship opened.

The opening game of the Asian Baseball Championship against South Korea, the first game of the opening of the Taipei Dome, drew keen attention from Taiwanese fans. Taipei Dome is a large dome stadium with about 40,000 seats, but all tickets for the opening game were sold out within 30 minutes of sales, and tickets were even popular. In particular, the heat was even hotter because the opening match was against South Korea, where Taiwan has a sense of rivalry.

Michael, head of the overseas sales team of Pro Star Sports, who is in charge of producing the official ball for the Asian Baseball Championship, said, "The game between Taiwan and Korea is the most popular matchup in Taiwan. Moreover, since it is the first game of Taipei Dome, more than 30,000 tickets were sold out within 30 minutes of starting ticket sales. The interest of Taiwanese fans is really hot," he said.

On the afternoon of the 3rd, when the opening match between South Korea and Taiwan was held, a tracking light rain fell in Taipei. However, even inclement weather did not stop Taiwanese fans from being enthusiastic. Rather, the unfavorable weather made Taipei Dome, which was finally completed, shine more.

Taiwan, which won the opening match, will move to Taiwan's Taichung Intercontinental Stadium to play against Palestine on the 5th and Hong Kong on the 6th.

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South Korea will also travel to Intercontinental Stadium with Taiwan to play the rest of the group stage against Hong Kong on the 5th and Palestine on the 6th. South Korea, which lost the opening match, must finish second in the group stage to advance to the Super Round, which starts on the 8th.