Taipei - Taiwan, South Korea and Australia registered their third wins on Sunday in the final qualifying baseball games for wild cards to the Beijing Olympics. Host nation Taiwan narrowly beat Germany 2-0 in a game described by Taiwan manager Hung Yi-chung as the toughest one so far.
"It has taken our players quite some time to get used to the exceptionally slow pitches made by Germany," Hung said, referring to the slow pitches ranging between 105 to 115 kilometres per hour made by German left-hander Andre Hughes.
In another afternoon game, Australia upset Canada 10-5 to break the undefeated record of the latter.
In the evening games, South Korea, the strongest team in this tournament, defeated Mexico 6-1 while Spain got its first win by finishing South Africa - the weakest of the eight teams - 2-1.
By Sunday, Taiwan and South Korea lead with three wins and no loss, Australia and Canada have two wins and one loss each, while Mexico and South Africa have no win and three losses each.
The Olympic final baseball qualifying tournament gives the teams which failed to win in regional qualifying games a chance to vie for three wild cards to the August 8-24 Beijing Olympics.
To win entry to the Beijing Olympics, a participating team must have at least five wins.
