Taiwan fighter jets to escort winning baseball team home / Photo: © AFP
Taiwan fighter jets to escort winning baseball team home
Taiwan will deploy four F-16 fighter jets to escort its men's baseball team back to Taipei on Monday, a day after they won an international tournament in Japan.
Playing under the name Chinese Taipei, Taiwan defeated Japan 4-0 in the final of the WBSC Premier12 in Tokyo on Sunday, sparking jubilation on the island of 23 million people where baseball is wildly popular.
President Lai Ching-te joined in the celebrations, sharing videos of himself on Threads watching the game and holding a video call with the players after their win.
In a Facebook post on Sunday, Lai hailed the players as "heroes".
"Your outstanding fielding and aggressive baserunning united the nation, brought the entire nation into a frenzy, and made the world marvel at Taiwan!" Lai gushed.
Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani, who plays for the Los Angeles Dodgers, shared a post on Instagram congratulating the Taiwan team.
The WBSC Premier12 tournament involved 12 teams, including the United States and Venezuela, which came third and fourth respectively.
On top of $1.5 million in prize money from WBSC, team members will also receive NT$7 million ($215,600) each from the Taiwan government.
Players will share in NT$70 million provided by Jeffrey Koo Jr, chairman of the Chinese Taipei Baseball Association, while local governments are also stumping up money for individual players, local media reported.
Taiwan's team is scheduled to take part in a parade in Taipei on Tuesday, before the players meet with Lai at the Presidential Office Building.
Taiwan competes under the name Chinese Taipei in international sports events due to pressure from China, which claims the island as part of its own territory and bristles at any attempt to given Taiwan legitimacy on the global stage.
D.Torres--LGdM
