Taiwan opened the Asian Baseball Championships with a thrilling 10-inning 5-4 win over South Korea. South Korea, who won the bronze medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics now has a struggle to even qualify for the 2004 Olympics. Japan crushed comparative minnows China 13-1. Today, Taiwan plays Japan and South Korea plays China. Taiwan will all but win the Asian championship and get one of the two Olympic qualifying places with a win. South Korea will need to beat both CHina (no problem) and Japan (very difficult) in order to even have a chance to finish in the top two. The format is round robin. The top two teams qualify.
Day 2 of finals South Korea 6 China 1 Japan 9 Taiwan 0 Standings Japan 2-0 22-1 (runs) +21 S. Korea 1-1 10-6 +4 Taiwan 1-1 5-13 -8 China 0-2 2-19 -17 Today's games: Taiwan - China South Korea - Japan Japan wins the Asian championship with a win. That with a Taiwan wil and Taiwan will qualify for the Olympics next year. South Korea and Taiwan wins puts this into a runs differential tiebreaker for the championship and the second qualification spot.
Taiwan beat a resiliant Chinese team 3-1 in today's early game. If Japan beats South Korea, Japan and Taiwan will advance to the Olympics with Japan being crowned the champions of Asia. If South Korea beats Japan, Japan and South Korea will advance to the Olympics with Japan being crowned the champions of Asia unless Korea wins by something like 8 or 9 runs.
It is Japan and Taiwan. Japan defeated South Korea 2-0 to clinch the Asian Baseball Championship. South Korea's loss allowed Taiwan, who had defeated South Korea on the first day of the final round, to gain the second Olympic qualification spot. China, who qualified for the final round with a stunning upset of the Philippines, played admirably in losing three straight games.