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Taiwan strides into the second round of Intercontinental Cup

Taiwan was to take on South Korea once again after progressing into the second round of the Intercontinental Baseball Cup, which started yesterday.

Cuba, Japan and Panama were the favorites going into the second round, although Taiwan was not likely to be discounted after winning three of four matches, including a victory over South Korea.

Panama will play Italy and Cuba faces Japan at Havana's Latinoamericano stadium in Group A. In Group B, Venezuela faces the Dominican Republic and South Korea goes up against Taiwan at the Victoria de Giron stadium, 90km east of the Cuban capital.

Three days of competition will then narrow it down to the two best teams from each of the two groups. The finals will be held Tuesday and Wednesday.

Cuba was the leader in Group A going into the quarterfinals, which run through tomorrow. Collectively, the team batted .294, including three doubles, three triples and 10 homers. Its pitching staff collectively averaged 3.10 earned runs per game.

Cuban manager Higinio Velez has chosen veteran pitcher Jose Ibar to start the Friday night game against Japan. In the final victory of the classification round on Wednesday night, Ibar pitched eight innings in a 5-0 win over the Netherlands.

Panama, finishing the classification run with a 6-3 win against Taiwan and a 7-0 victory over Brazil, is the favorite against baseball neophytes Italy.
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