Taipei - Taiwan, still reeling from its defeat at the hands
of China at the Beijing Olympics, is aiming to advance to the top
eight at the 2009 World Baseball Classic, a baseball official said
Friday.
'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,' Lin Tzung-cheng,
secretary-general of the Chinese-Taipei Baseball Association, told
Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
'We have already chosen six coaches and will make the first-round
selection of 45 players before the year-end. The players will come
from local players as well as players who are playing in the US and
Japan,' he added.
Japan, South Korea and Taiwan are the three baseball nations in
Asia, but China is catching up and humiliated Taiwan 8-7 at the
Beijing Olympics.
The defeat in Beijing made Taiwan fans worry about the future of
baseball in Taiwan.
Taiwan's professional baseball is in limbo as the six-team league
has lost two teams recently - with the T-Rex team being dissolved in
October over game-fixing and the China Trust Whales being disbanded
in November due to lack of funds.
While many Taiwan fans are concerned about the downsizing of the
baseball league, Lin says he sees 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 United States 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 kick off on March 5, 2009
with the preliminaries being played in Tokyo, Toronto, Peurto Rico,
Mexico City, San Diego and Miami.
The finals will be played March 21-23 at Dodger Stadium in Los
Angeles.
USA
Your Talkback on this Story