TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — South Korean media on Thursday (Oct. 5) thanked Taiwan for defeating China in the lastest round of baseball play at the Hangzhou Asian Games.
It helped paves the way for a rematch between the Korean and Taiwan teams in the gold medal game.
Taiwan easily dominated China with a trio of its "Fireball Men" pitchers to secure a 4-1 victory and a spot in the gold medal finals. South Korean online news outlet OSEN thanked to Taiwan for defeating China as this made the Korean team's pathway easier to the championship game.
The South Korean team lost 0-4 to Taiwan in the group stage and entered the super round with one loss. On Thursday, they defeated Japan with a score of 2-0, accumulating one win and one loss.
If Taiwan were to continue to advance, the situation would be more favorable to South Korea. On the other hand, if China had beaten Taiwan, it could have led to a three-way tie.
This would mean a comparison of the quality of play against each other to serve as a tiebreaker, making the situation even more complicated.
South Korean media closely monitored Thursday's game between Taiwan and China. After Taiwan was confirmed to have won, OSEN reported: "Thanks to Taiwan, Ryu Joong-il's (South Korean team manager) chances of advancing to the finals have become simpler. All they have to do is win against China."
Korean media is hopeful the national team could defeat China in Friday's (Oct. 6) game, which is part of the "morning-afternoon" schedule, and set up a "revenge match" against Taiwan in the gold medal game on Saturday (Oct. 7).
In a recent interview with Korean media, Ryu, said, "If we meet them again in the finals, we will avenge the previous loss."
In Friday's game, South Korea ran up the runs against China to win 8-1, thus ensuring a rematch with Taiwan for gold on Saturday.