Chinese Taipei, Canada, South Korea win Olympic berths

　　TAIPEI, March 13, 2008 - Chinese Taipei, Canada and South Korea won berths in the final qualifying tournament for the Beijing Olympics on Thursday.

　　The teams snagged the spots by finishing in the top three of the eight-team tournament, which ends Friday.

　　Chinese Taipei beat winless South Africa 4-0, though they had only four hits, including a home run, off three South African pitchers at the Doliou baseball stadium in central Taiwan.

　　Lin Yi-chuan doubled and stole third base in the fifth inning, scoring Taipei's first run on a high fly ball driven to the outfield by Wang Chen-wei.

　　Chiang Chih-hsien pounded a solo homer in the seventh. Taiwan added two more runs in the eighth on two walks and a triple by slugger Lo Kuo-hui off South Africa reliever Matthew Dancer.

　　Taipei's starter Chiang Chien-ming struck out six South African batters and gave up only three hits in six innings. Three South African pitchers allowed eight walks.

　　In the other game, Canada edged out the undefeated South Korea 4-3.

　　Nick Weglarz smacked a two-run homer in the first off South Korea's right-handed starter Ryu Hyun-Jin as Canada headed towards taking a 3-0 lead. Canada added the winning run in the fourth.

　　South Korea jumped out with one run in the first and rallied to collect two more in the ninth but could not overcome Canada.

　　In Friday play, Chinese Taipei takes on South Korea, while Canada faces Germany. The results of those games will not affect the top three finishers' Olympic berths.

　　In addition to the hosts China, who have an automatic place, the United States, Cuba, the Netherlands, and Japan qualified for the Olympics last year.