Japan fended off China 5-2 in the final of the "Good Luck Beijing" 2007 International Baseball Tournament at west Beijing's Wukesong Baseball Field this evening. China led 2-0 after the first inning but Japan scored 4 points in the second and gradually turned the table to win the championship.

"First we gained wins over Czech and France both via tough extras. But the young players soon made improvement and we won the semi and the final," revealed Hoshino Senichi, head coach of the Japanese team, adding "I'm very gratified with this."

"I was thinking that if only it were the Olympic Games" when the Japanese national anthem was played at the gold medal presentation ceremony, he recalled, smiling.

Despite the sound development of the baseball league domestically, Hoshino Senichi said they still had a big headache as "we are unfamiliar with many of the overseas strong teams."