Unbeaten Japan wins Asia Professional Baseball Championship. WBSC

Japan defeated Korea 4-3 in 10 innings to win the second edition of the Asia Professional Baseball Championship (APBC) undefeated. The final was played in front of 41,883 fans at the Tokyo Dome.

Korea took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning. 'Samurai Japan' scored one run in the fifth and one in the sixth to force extra innings.

The Koreans scored the go-ahead run in the top of the 10th on a two-out single by right fielder Dong-Hee Yoon off Kojiro Yoshimura, but Japan responded with two runs in the bottom half of the frame. 

Japan, the current Olympic champion, had runners on second and third. Shogo Sakakura drove in a run with a sacrifice fly and second baseman Makoto Kadowaki hit a walk-off single off Jung Hai Young to give Japan the win.

Japan won every game to claim the gold medal in the Asia Professional Baseball Championship. WBSC
Japan won every game to claim the gold medal in the Asia Professional Baseball Championship. WBSC

"What a relief! The players' hard work made the win possible, and I'm grateful to them. He [Kadowaki] was swinging a bit, but in the end, he took it easily up the middle," manager Hirokazu Ibata told Kyodo news agency.

Chinese Taipei beat Australia 4-3, in the third-place match, scoring the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning.

All-APBC Team

Makoto Kadowaki earned MVP honours and was named to the All-Tournament Team as the best second baseman. The rest of the All-APBC Team:

Pitcher: Ichiro Sumida (Japan). 

Catcher: Alex Hall (Australia). 

First Baseman: Soh-Si Hwan (Korea). 

Third Baseman: Teruaki Sato (Japan). 

Shortstop: Ju-Won Kim (Korea). 

Outfielders: Shota Morishita, Chusei Mannami (Japan) and Tien-Hsin Kuo (Korea). 

Designated Hitter: Chieh-Hsien Chen (Chinese Taipei).