China beat Thailand 4-1 at the opening game of the Doha Asian Games baseball tournament on Wednesday, as baseball power Japan thrashed the Philippines 17-2.

The Chinese professional players had a three-run eruption in the forth inning, before their captain Zhang Yufeng hit a homer in the eighth inning.

The game between Japan and the Philippines was called after five innings due to the mercy rule after the Japanese opened up a gap of 15 runs.