2007 Asian Baseball Championship

The 24th Asian Baseball Championship was contested in Taichung, Taiwan in November and December 2007. The tournament is sanctioned by the Asian Baseball Federation. The winner of the tournament will gain automatic entry into the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. The second and third place teams will advance to the final 2008 Olympic qualifier, also scheduled to be played in Taiwan in the spring of 2008.

B Level

The B level teams are Hong Kong (IBAF Asian Cup Champion 2006), Thailand, Philippines and Pakistan. However, the winner will advance to join the three A level teams in a round robin competition.

Team W D L Tiebreaker
 Philippines 210-
 Thailand 111-
 Hong Kong 1021-0
 Pakistan 1020-1

November 27, 2007

Taichung Baseball Field Philippines  2–0  Pakistan
Intercontinental Stadium Thailand  8–4  Hong Kong

November 28, 2007

Intercontinental Stadium Pakistan  5–3  Thailand
Intercontinental Stadium Hong Kong  1–4  Philippines

November 29, 2007

Intercontinental Stadium Thailand  0–0 (F/12)  Philippines
Intercontinental Stadium Hong Kong  8–6  Pakistan

A Level

The winner from the B Level of the tournament will join the three traditional powers of Asia in a round robin competition. All games will be played at Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium.

Team W L Tiebreaker
 Japan 30-
 South Korea 21-
 Chinese Taipei 12-
 Philippines 03-

December 1, 2007

Intercontinental Stadium South Korea  5–2  Chinese Taipei
Intercontinental Stadium Philippines  0–10 (F/7)  Japan

December 2, 2007

Intercontinental Stadium Chinese Taipei  9–0  Philippines
Intercontinental Stadium Japan  4–3  South Korea

December 3, 2007

Intercontinental Stadium Philippines  1–13 (F/7)  South Korea
Intercontinental Stadium Japan  10–2  Chinese Taipei

Final standings

Controversy

In the match between Japan and South Korea on December 2, a dispute arose over the lineup table of the South Korea team. In the tournament, teams were obliged to submit a starting players table 1 hour before a game begin. Managers have made a consensus to change players if unexpected injuries were happen, which are commonly accepted in the international baseball games.

Despite these arrangements, the South Korea manager Kim Kyung-Moon drastically changed his starting players immediately before the game, including a starting pitcher[1] and this substitution clearly advantaged the South Korea team. Japanese manager Senichi Hoshino requested an explanation but his appeal to an umpire was turned down.

After the game was over, which resulted a Japanese win, Hoshino made comments critical of South Korean acts as ungentlemanly conduct.[2] Japanese team officially submitted a protest note to the South Korea team and the International Baseball Federation (IBAF). John C. Ostermeyer, secretary general of IBAF, acknowledged this appeal and announced that IBAF express regret at the South Korea team and plan to change regulations at a meeting held in January 2008.[3]

References
  1. Japan Defeats Korea 4-3 in Hotly Contested Matchup Between Asian Powerhouse Squads, IBAF News, December 1, 2007
  2. Hoshino leads Japan to Olympics, Japan Times, December 4, 2007
  3. IBAF、ルール改正へ＝韓国の打順表変更問題で, Jiji Press, December 3, 2007

See also
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