Despite a bronze-medal balk, Team China's first-ever victory over Japan is a home run for the game's domestic profile, Sun Xiaochen reports

Still a niche event aspiring to join the country's sporting mainstream, Chinese baseball is embracing the exposure at the Asian Games, seeing the event as a major boost for the sport's profile in the host nation.

Despite finishing without a medal again, the Chinese baseball team has taken pride from its gutsy performances against the continent's baseball powerhouses at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, with the young squad motivated to keep maturing and playing itself into medal contention in the near future.

After losing to Chinese Taipei and the Republic of Korea in two super-round games, then Japan in the bronze-medal match, Team China completed its Hangzhou campaign with a 3-3 win-loss record to secure a fourth-place finish for an eighth straight time since the sport's Asiad debut in 1994.