Don't you care about the Korea? Taiwanese media are making a fuss over the Japanese director's remarks that "the biggest rival is Taiwan."

*This content was translated by AI.

Ahead of the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), which will be held in March, Taiwan is excited by a word thrown by Hirokazu Ibata (51), head coach of the Japanese national baseball team. When Taiwan, not South Korea, was named as the biggest rival in the first round, Taiwanese media reported extensively and showed an encouraging response.

According to multiple media outlets, including Japan's Nikkan Sports, Ibata said in an interview with reporters during the recent Miyazaki reinforcement training session, "Taiwan, the first opponent of the game, is the watershed and the most vigilant rival to advance to the finals."

According to Japan's Daily Sports, Ibata recently announced that he would send a dedicated coach to understand the power of his Group C counterparts, and decided to send pitcher coach Yoshimi Kazuki directly to the Taiwanese national team's practice game. This shows that the alertness toward Taiwan is by no means small compared to sending head coach Makoto Kaneko to Korean practice matches in the same group.

When the news spread, Taiwanese media TSNA and TaiSounds heavily covered related content such as "the Japanese coach recognized them as rivals" and "he highly valued Taiwanese pitchers." In fact, in Japan, there is an atmosphere that cares more about the Taiwan match than the Korean match. It is also because of the Premier 12 held in 2024. At that time, Japan lost to Taiwan in the final and lost the championship.

As a result, Yamamoto Yoshinobu (28, LA Dodgers), who is considered the "strongest starting pitcher," will play against Taiwan. Coach Ibata has also declared that he will never let his guard down, citing the variables of playing against Taiwan in the first game and that he lost the previous showdown.

On the other hand, Japan's view of the Korean national team seems to be somewhat cooler than before. In fact, Japan was strong enough to win 10 consecutive games against South Korea. In the second round of the warm-up match held in November last year, NC Dinos' Kim Joo-won's tie-breaking home run failed to win 11 consecutive games, but Japan's "unbeaten streak" is still ongoing.

The game will be held from March 5. Baseball fans around the world are paying attention to Tokyo Dome in March whether Ibata's choice of Taiwan as his "biggest rival" will hit the mark or whether South Korea, which is hurt by his pride, will write a drama of reversal.

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*This content was translated by AI.