Taiwan has dominated the Little League World Series before, winning 17 times between 1969 and 1996. Since then, no Taiwanese team has won the title and only one has made it to the finals. That may change in 2024.
Chinese Taipei won four straight games, outscoring their opponents 32-3, to qualify for the international tournament finals and advance to the finals.
The team won again in the international finals, beating Venezuela 4-1 to seal Chinese Taipei's best Little League World Series finish in 15 years, and a win against U.S. champion Florida on Sunday will clinch the long-awaited championship.
The complete 12-player roster for the Chinese Taipei Little League World Series team is as follows:
Read more: How pitch counts work in the Little League World Series
Chinese Taipei Little League World Series 2024 Participants
No. Name Position 7 Chen Bowei SS 8 Qiu Zhikai P/CF 14 Qiu Weiche P/RF 15 Hu Yanchun 1B 16 Liao Shuanghao P/RF 17 Yu Tianhao P/3B 18 Peng Yiyan 2B 19 Lai Chenxi P/1B/3B/SS/OF 21 Lin Chunyi LF 22 Lin Shenkai P/RF 2 3 Yu Chia-Jui P/C/2B 25 Zhaung Jie-En 1B/LF
Last year's Chinese Taipei national team was headlined by star player Huang Cheng-jun, and while this year's squad may not have the star player, the results so far have proven that this is a deep squad.
Chinese Taipei doesn't have a heavy individual pitcher burden, but Lai Cheng-Hsi shined when he got the chance, striking out 10 batters and allowing no hits in 4.2 innings in the team's opener against Canada. Chiu Zhi-Kai closed out the no-hitter for Chinese Taipei.
Offensively, Chinese Taipei got contributions from all angles. Liao Hsien-ho went 3-for-3 with 5 RBIs in a dominating 11-0 win over Australia, while Chiu Wai-cheh hit a home run and had 4 RBIs to help Chinese Taipei blow out a big win over Cuba.
Here's more information on where the Chinese Taipei Little League team is from and what makes them different from last year's team.
Where do Chinese Taipei Little League teams come from?
The Chinese Taipei Little League World Series team is the Guishan Little League in Taoyuan, Taiwan.
Keisan Little League will be making its fourth appearance in the Little League World Series and second consecutive year. The team finished third last year in Williamsport. This will be the third consecutive year that Chinese Taipei will represent the Asia-Pacific region in the tournament.
MORE: Who's still in the Little League World Series?
Who are the managers of the Chinese Taipei Little League?
Chinese Taipei is head coach Lee Chen-ta, with Kuo Hsuan-ming and Kang Yi-che as assistant coaches.
Centa is in his fourth Little League World Series as a manager and knows Williamsport well at this point. All that's missing is a championship.
That moment nearly came last year, when Chinese Taipei finished third in the vaunted tournament. Coach Chenta's team featured several players from last season, including star player Huang Cheng-jun, and he told the Williamsport Sun-Gazette that the difference between this year's team and last year's could be what will allow them to win.
While Chen Ta acknowledged that he may not have the star quality of Chen Jun this year, he said: “This year, everyone is pretty good.”
Chinese Taipei's balance has been apparent so far, with explosive offense and a strong lineup in check, and two more wins will put Chenta on the cusp of claiming the title he has long sought.
