After suffering two humiliating defeats at the hands of China in the past year, Taiwan is preparing a comeback at the Baseball World Cup, officials said on Monday.
The Chinese Taipei Baseball Association announced the preliminary selection of 45 players for the World Cup, which takes place from Sept. 9 to Sept. 27 in seven European nations.
The lineup includes the team — comprising 20 amateurs — that took part in the baseball Asian Championship, which ended in Sapporo, Japan, on Monday.
ASIAN CHAMPIONSHIP
Taiwan came second with a 2-1 record in the 12-team event after beating South Korea 5-4 on Saturday and trouncing China 13-1 on Monday.
Japan clinched its fourth consecutive Asian Championship title in a 7-1 rout of South Korea on Monday.
South Korea was third with a 1-2 mark. China lost all of its games to finish in fourth.
Taiwan’s team for the 38th Baseball World Cup includes nine players who are playing for teams in the US and Japan.
The team will start training for the World Cup on Saturday, the association said on its Web site.
RIVALS
Taiwan will face the Czech Republic, Australia and Mexico in Group A. The first and second-place teams from each of the five groups will advance to the next round.
The US are the defending champions at the 22-team event. Japan, South Korea and Taiwan are the three top baseball nations in Asia, but China is catching up by using Taiwanese and Japanese coaches to train its players.
China defeated Taiwan 8-7 at last year’s Beijing Olympics and won 4-1 in in the qualifying round for the World Baseball Classic held in Tokyo in March.
Taiwanese sports officials have admitted China has caught up and vowed to reorganize local baseball to recapture past glory.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
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