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Taiwan eyes top-eight spot at World Baseball Classic

“We have already chosen six coaches and will make the first-round selection of 45 players before year’s end. The numbers will come from local players as well as players in the US and Japan.”

— Lin Tsung-cheng, Chinese Taipei Baseball Association secretary-general

Taiwan, still reeling from its defeat at the hands of China at the Beijing Olympics, is aiming to advance to the top eight at next year’s World Baseball Classic, a baseball official said yesterday.

“In the first World Baseball Classic, held in 2006, Taiwan failed to make it into the top eight. So our goal is to beat either Japan or South Korea and advance into the top eight,” Chinese Taipei Baseball Association secretary-general Lin Tsung-cheng (林宗成) told reporters.

“We have already chosen six coaches and will make the first-round selection of 45 players before year’s end. The numbers will come from local players as well as players in the US and Japan,” he said.

Japan, South Korea and Taiwan are the three name baseball nations in Asia, but China is catching up and humiliated Taiwan 8-7 at the Beijing Olympics.

The defeat in Beijing sparked concern among Taiwan fans about the ­future of baseball in Taiwan. Taiwan’s professional baseball is in limbo after the six-team league lost two teams recently — with the dmedia T-Rex being dissolved last month over game-fixing and the Chinatrust Whales being disbanded this month owing to a lack of funds.

While many Taiwan fans are concerned about the downsizing of the baseball league, Lin says he saw it as a good chance for the league to reorganize.

“The best players from the two [disbanded] teams will join the other four teams, so the league will become stronger,” he said.

The US hosted the first World Baseball Classic in 2006 with 16 teams playing a total of 36 games at four venues.

The second World Baseball Classic will start on March 5, with the preliminaries being played in Tokyo, Toronto, Peurto Rico, Mexico City, San Diego and Miami.

The finals will be played from March 21 to March 23 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
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