ISLAMABAD: Pakistan took full advantage of being the home side as they defeated Palestine 11-3 to lift the trophy of the 15th edition of the West Asia Baseball Cup here at the Pakistan Sports Complex on Wednesday.

Both the teams went into the final undefeated but Pakistan’s captain Faqir Hussain led from the front as he top scored with three runs and maintained the host’s dominance.

Faqir was ably assisted by his team-mates as Arslan Jamshaid, Mohammad Hussain, Fazal Khan scored two runs apiece while the pitchers also delivered aggressively to ensure the triumph.

For Palestine, Ibrahim Shalabi, Rmusey Yasin and Younas Haleem made one run each.

Teams from seven countries, including India, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka participated in the tournament.

Pakistan routed Sri Lanka — the winners of the last edition — 16-1 in the semi-final on Tuesday.

“We have achieved our target, we are very happy today,” Faqir told Dawn. “We learned from our mistakes [in the previous matches] to defeat Sri Lanka in the semi-final.”

“The whole team was motivated and worked endlessly to win the championship and clinch the trophy.” added the Pakistan captain.

Pakistan is currently ranked 43rd in the world while Palestine — a surprise package of this tournament — featured in a baseball championship for the first time in their history.

Many players in the Palestine squad are settled in the United States where they regularly play club baseball.

Federal Minister for Inter Provincial Coordination Ehsan-ur-Rehman Mazari and US Ambassador to Pakistan Donald Blome were chief guests of the final.

Pakistan Federation Baseball president Syed Fakhar Shah also witnessed the final and later distributed the trophies among the players.

“We all are happy as Pakistan baseball team managed to win this prestigious event after seven years.” Fakhar told Dawn.

After winning the championship Pakistan along with Palestine have qualified for the Asian Championship to be held in Taiwan this year.

Fakhar requested the Pakistan Sports Board to reward for the national baseball team to boost their morale and said that with proper support the team could bring more laurels for the country.

Published in Dawn, February 2nd, 2023