Chinese Taipei has reached the final of the 2017 World Port Tournament in Rotterdam. They defeated Japan 4-2 on Friday to clinch the title game appearance. Behind a strong starting pitcher Sheng Feng Wu, who held Japan to four hits and a walk in five scoreless innings, Chinese Taipei took a 4-0 lead. Japan threatened to come back against the bullpen, but two runs were too little too late.
Meanwhile Cuba is the second team besides the Netherlands, which has been eliminated from the finals race. They dropped their matchup 3-5 against Curacao, which had lost all games so far in the WPT. Two runs in the top of the ninth completed the upset. Yusniel Ibanez hit a home run for Cuba.
Cuba is now facing the Dutch team in the game for fourth place on Saturday, while Curacao plays Japan for a spot in the final.
This is a very odd format for a tournament…