Taipei, March 10 (CNA) When Taiwan qualified for the 2004 Athens Olympic baseball tournament, it broke Korean hearts by rallying to oust South Korea after being one out away from defeat.
More than four years later, Taiwan may soon find out how the Koreans felt.
One out away from a victory that would have almost certainly qualified it for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Taiwan stumbled against Canada 6-5 in extra innings Monday night in the 2008 Final Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Taichung.
Up 5-4 in the bottom of the ninth, Taiwan seemed poised for a huge victory against one of its key rivals in the eight-team tournament, but 21-year-old reliever Lo Chia-jen could not close the deal.
With two out and Canadian Stubby Clapp on first, Lo threw a disastrous wild pitch that advanced Clapp to second.
The right-hander then made a good pitch, a tough breaking ball on the outside part of the plate than an off-balance Michael Saunders pulled through the right side of the infield to send home the tying run, with Clapp just beating the throw home.
In the top of the 10th, two consecutive hits off one of Taiwan's few big name pitchers, Yomiuri Giants hurler Chiang Chien-ming, put Canada ahead for good.
The loss left Taiwan tied with Canada at 3-1 for second place in the standings, with South Korea still undefeated at 4-0. The top three finishers in the tournament will advance to the Olympics.
The impact of the defeat was somewhat cushioned by Australia's 7-4 loss to Mexico last night that left the Australians 2-2.
Taiwan plays Australia Wednesday night in a must-win game for both teams.
Taiwan jumped to an early lead against Canada in front of a raucous capacity crowd at Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium, with three first inning singles and some shaky Canadian defense staking the home side to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first.
Canada tied the score at 2-2 with four hits in the top of third and added one run apiece in the fourth and sixth innings to take a 4-2 lead. Nicholas Weglarz had a solo home run off Taiwanese starter Ni Fu-te, who allowed three runs and nine hits in 7 2/3 innings.
But Lo Kuo-hui looked set to be the hero when he popped a three-run home run just over the centerfield fence off Canadian starter Jonathan Lockwood with two outs in the bottom of sixth to give Taiwan a 5-4 lead.
Taiwan preserved the lead in the bottom of the eighth when Taiwan catcher Yeh Chun-chang took a throw from right field and tagged out Canadian runner James Van Ostrand shoulder first in a collision at the plate.
Van Ostrand and Yeh then clashed, causing both benches to clear and setting off heated arguments between the two managers and the umpires.
During the 20-minute delay, the home crowd threw mineral water bottles on the field, nearly leading to a Canadian boycott of the game.
In other games Monday, South Korea beat Spain 14-5 to go 4-0 and Germany edged South Africa 4-3.
Standings:
South Korea 4-0
Taiwan 3-1
Canada 3-1
Australia 2-2
Germany 2-2
Mexico 1-3
Spain 1-3
South Africa 0-4