Taiwan will host two qualifying events for next year's Beijing Olympics, a sports official said yesterday.
"We will hold the Asian Olympics Qualifiers and another qualifying game to select three more teams which will participate in the Beijing Olympics via wild cards," said Lin Tsung-cheng, secretary-general of Taiwan's baseball association.
The news came the day after the conclusion of the 37th Baseball World Cup hosted by Taiwan.
The Asian Olympics qualifiers are divided into two parts.
The first, from Nov. 27 to Nov. 29, is for Asia's second-tier teams:Pakistan, the Philippines, Hong Kong and Thailand.
The winner of this event, dubbed the Asian Championship, will advance to the Asian Olympic qualifiers from Dec. 1 to Dec. 3 in Taiwan for which Taiwan, Japan and South Korea have direct entry.
The Beijing Olympic Games will have eight teams -- one each from host country China, Asia, Europe and two from the Americas, as well as three wild-card holders.
The Netherlands will represent Europe while the US and Cuba will represent the Americas.
In March, Taiwan will hold the Special Qualifiers in which seven teams will compete for the three wild cards to the Beijing Olympics.
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