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S Korea edge Taiwan to finish second

Taiwan fought back late but it wasn't enough as they suffered a 4-3 defeat at the hands of South Korea in Taichung last night.

The win pushed Taiwan into third place at the end of the IBAF Olympic Qualifier and the Koreans second. Earlier in the day Canada beat Germany 2-1 to finish first overall. All three qualified for the Olympics.

Taiwan scored two runs in the bottom of the first to jump to an early lead, but the Koreans came back in the second because of poor fielding by Taiwan.

With a runner on second, Lee Dae-ho hit a grounder that bounced just out of reach of Lin Yi-chuan, who appeared to barely make an effort to field the ball. Lee Taek-keun followed with an RBI single, and then Park Jin-man hit a grounder to Lin who again failed to recover a ball that was hit within a couple of meters of him.

The bases were loaded with no outs for Jin Kab-yong, who hit a sacrifice fly. Jeong Seong-hoon followed with a grounder to Lin Che-hsuan. Lin fielded the ball cleanly, but dropped it as he was about to throw it to first, giving Lee Taek-keun time to run home and put South Korea up 3-2.

The Koreans added another run in the top of the third when Kim Joo-chan showed off his speed by stealing both second and third bases and then was hit home off a single by Lee Dae-ho.

Taiwan reduced the South Korean lead in the fifth when Chang Chien-ming reached first and was hit home off a double by Peng Cheng-min to put Taiwan within one. But that was all Taiwan could muster.

Taiwan's best hitter of the tournament, Lo Kuo-hui, was quiet yesterday, striking out in his first three at bats. He finally reached base in the eighth when he hit a long double, but he was left stranded.

Korean slugger Lee Seung-yuop was two for three with a double and sparked his team's three-run second.

Lee led the tournament in RBI, and is among the top 10 in both batting average and home runs.

The win went to South Korean starter Kim Kwang-hyun. The 19-year-old rose to instant fame last November when he beat the Japanese champion Chunichi Dragons in the third Konami Cup Asia Series. It was the first time the Japanese champion had lost the Konami Cup.

Canada 2, Germany 1

Canada needed to beat Germany at the Douliou stadium in Yunlin County to win the tournament. But the Germans belied their underdog status by taking the game to a 10th inning before the Canadians picked up a second run.

Australia 13, South Africa 11

Australia won its final match of the Olympic Qualifiers 13-11 yesterday afternoon at the Douliou stadium, ending a disappointing tournament on a better note. South Africa turned in its best game of the tournament, remaining competitive throughout and scoring seven runs in the second inning.

Mexico 2, Spain 1

The Mexicans finished their campaign on a bright note: a fourth consecutive win and fourth place in the standings. They equalized in the sixth and pulled ahead in the eighth.

STANDINGS	P	W	L
Canada	7	6	1
South Korea	7	6	1
Taiwan	7	5	2
Mexico	7	4	3
Australia	7	4	3
Germany	7	2	5
Spain	7	1	6
South Africa	7	0	7

Also see: Taiwan wraps up presentation on foreign investment
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