AFC Champions League” The ball is more bouncy than the previous one! Taiwan Captain: The flight distance is different

Guo Tianxin. (File photo, taken by reporter Gong Naijie)

[Special Correspondent Gong Naijie/Reporting from Tokyo, Japan] The Australian team shocked the South Korean team in the opening game, using powerful long-range artillery fire to blast the pitchers, and finally won 8:7. Taiwan captain Guo Tianxin said that the Australian team is not weak to begin with, but the ball is round. Even if the opponent uses pitchers to fight, it will not have too much impact.

The Taiwan team won two games against the Australian team in the 2023 AFC Champions League, including the third-place game. Guo Tianxin believed that the pitchers last time were not that good. "This time the strategy seems to be a round-robin battle. It doesn't matter. The pitchers you don't know in the first place, no matter who comes to throw, still have to come on and hit."

The Australian team had 8 hits out of 10 in the first game. Playing in the Tokyo Dome felt very different. Guo Tianxin, a five-time secondary school outfield Golden Glove winner, also said that the ball this time was different from the previous one. "It was a bit difficult to hit the audience last time, but this year's batting practice has a different feeling. The same goes for fielding. The flight distance is not as expected. The ball that might normally fall to the chest to catch the ball will be above the head. I have to adapt again."

Guo Tianxin was the best outfielder in the last AFC Champions League. He was paid attention to by the Japanese media before the Taiwan-Japan war. He said bluntly, "The focus is on the whole team. We will fight for the fourth day of the schedule to play the evening game (meaning the championship game)."