The South Koreans romped in the group phase, dispatching New Zealand and South Africa, while the New Eagles split their first two group matches with Japan and lost their next two to a strong Australian team.
In the first Taiwan-Australia match, both teams adopted conservative strategies and the game ended with Australia winning by only six flags. In the second match Taiwan pressed the attack and was mowed down by Australia's withering defense, losing by a margin of 31 flags. The Taiwanese team went on to finish fifth.
"We didn't practice enough," Lee said, explaining that several students on his team could not play because they were preparing for final exams.
The surprise of the tournament — and by far the rowdiest team — was Singapore, who could be heard shouting during matches from the far end of the Internet cafe. They advanced to the second round, where they defeated Australia twice before losing two matches to South Korea.
Needing only one victory against Australia to win first place, the South Koreans choked and lost both matches. They finished third, Australia took second, and Singapore won the eight laptop computers and bragging rights as the best team in the Asia-Pacific region.
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