NAGOYA, Japan, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) -- China's baseball team advanced to the Super Round of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games with a 9-1 rout of Palestine on Wednesday night, finishing the opening round with two wins and one loss.
The two teams remained locked in a tight pitching and defensive battle through the first two innings, before China finally broke the deadlock in the third when Luan Chenchen hit a solo home run, while Wang Lei scored in the fifth inning to extend China's lead to 2-0.
China then ran riot in the eighth inning, scoring seven runs without reply to take a commanding lead.
"We had conducted a technical analysis of our opponent before the game," China coach Chen Biao said after the game. "Their pitcher performed well today. We didn't really get going at the beginning, but eventually we adopted some small-ball tactics, which helped us pull away."
"The team's overall momentum was good today. In the upcoming Super Round, we need to show more of what we're capable of," said China's Cao Jie.
After losing to Japan in its opening game, China bounced back with victories over the Philippines and Palestine over the following two days to advance to the Super Round.
Cao said the team first adjusted its mentality and tried to give its all in every game.
"Many players are young and this is their first Asian Games, so it's inevitable that they felt a little nervous during the games. After these three group matches, I think we'll get better and better," he said.
China team leader Chen Xu said young players made some mistakes in their first Asian Games, but managed to keep composure.
"The biggest gain from the three games was that their psychological stability improved," Chen said.
In other games on Wednesday, Chinese Taipei defeated Hong Kong, China 11-0, South Korea routed Thailand 18-1, and Japan beat the Philippines 7-0.
Following the completion of the single round-robin opening round, China, Chinese Taipei, Japan and South Korea advanced to the Super Round, which will begin on Friday. ■
