Korea Beats Taiwan 5-2 in Olympic Baseball Qualifying Round

South Korea got off to a fine start in the Olympic baseball qualifying tournament, by upsetting host Taiwan 5-2 at the first round in Taichung, Taiwan, Saturday.

This is also a revenge South Korean baseballers got for the loss to Taiwan in 2003 that sent Taiwan to the 2004 Olympics in Athens. South Korea also suffered a 2-4 loss to Taiwan in the Asian Games in Doha in 2006.

Korea will have a showdown with Japan Sunday and with the Philippines Monday, with one winner among the four Asian nations to be allowed a berth in the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008.

Taiwan scored first, when Hu Chin-lung and Chen Chin-feng drilled singles off South Korea’s left-hander Ryu Hyun-jin in the first inning.

But South Korea turned it around in the fifth, when Lee Jong-wook slammed a three-run homer off Taiwan’s starting pitcher Lin En-yu of Japan’s Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles.

Lin, who was eventually pulled out in the same inning, finished with 10 strikeouts, allowing the home run and three hits _ a double by Lee Dae-hyung, one single each by Park Jin-man and Ko Young-min.

Taiwan struck back in the sixth, with Chang Tai-shan smacking a double off South Korea’s reliever Park Chan-ho to score Chang Chien-ming, who made it on base with a single to the centefield.

But Taiwan’s chances of taking back the lead was shortlived.

Korea’s Park Jin-man slugged a single homer of Taiwan reliever Huang Chu-chung in the seventh. Korea added a fifth in the eighth on three walks and two errors by Taiwan.

Four South Korean pitchers struck out nine Taiwanese batters and gave up eight hits, while five Taiwanese pitchers struck out 13 Korean batters and allowed five hits.