Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) said yesterday that the performance of Taiwan’s baseball team at the World Baseball Classic was “unacceptable” and called on Sports Affairs Council Minister Tai Hsia-ling (戴遐齡) to come up with a proposal to boost baseball by the end of this month.
Taiwan’s baseball team returned home on Sunday after being eliminated from the competition following losses to South Korea and China.
The team’s loss to China marked the second defeat to the country in a year.
Executive Yuan spokesman Su Jun-pin (蘇俊賓) said that Liu, who watched the game against China on Saturday afternoon, was stunned by the result.
“[Liu] told me he was very angry when watching the game and could not accept the result,” Su said.
Su said Liu’s first task yesterday morning was to arrange a provisional meeting with Tai, where Liu requested that the SAC present a plan to improve the nation’s physical environment by the end of this month.
Liu was worried not only about baseball, but also basketball and pool, following recent events that had grabbed his attention.
The Super Basketball League couldn’t get any cable TV to broadcast its games this year and a recent SBL competition drew a crowd of only 50 people.
Taiwan’s pool champion Wu Chia-ching (吳珈慶), meanwhile, has decided to become a citizen of Singapore, Su said.
Wu’s family recently applied for citizenship in Singapore after Wu objected to lack of funding and retirement provisions to support his career in Taiwan.
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