NAGOYA, Japan, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- South Korea beat the host Japan 3-1 in the men's baseball final at the 2026 Asian Games on Sunday, extending its dominance of the event with a fifth consecutive title.
Japan, who had entered the final unbeaten, saw its winning run end on home soil. South Korea opened the scoring with a run in the second inning before Japan levelled in the seventh. The defending champion responded immediately, adding two runs in the eighth and holding on for the victory.
The result gave South Korea a fifth straight Asian Games baseball gold medal, a run stretching back to the 2010 Guangzhou Games.
Earlier on Sunday, Chinese Taipei defeated China 5-1 in the bronze-medal game.
"Compared with the previous Olympic cycle, we can see some changes in our offense from indicators such as batting average, but we still need to improve our ability to link hits together and convert scoring opportunities," China coach Chen Biao said.
"We have to take it step by step. First, we need to recognize where we fall short. At least now we know clearly what we need to strengthen in the future." ■
