The New Zealand White Sox and captain Fiona Timu - shown above at last year's women's world championship - hope a swing through Australia will have them ready to challenge for a 2008 Olympic berth at the qualifying tournament in Taiwan. (Photo by China Interactive Sports)

FIRST OLYMPIC QUALIFIER KICKS OFF TOMORROW
2007-01-31

The Asia/Oceania Olympic Qualifier, the first of three Olympic regional qualifiers in 2007, kicks off tomorrow morning in Tainan City, Taiwan. During this double round robin series, six teams will compete to earn a coveted spot in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The winner of the tournament will be added to the list of teams competing in next year’s Games, alongside already qualified teams Australia, Canada, China, Japan, and USA.

The event is set to get underway at 9:00 a.m. (local time) and will take place at the facility built to host last year’s II World University Softball Championship. Each of the six teams will compete under the double round robin format in which every team will play one another twice. After that the two teams with the best record will then compete in a best-of-three series to determine the champion, who will advance to next year’s Olympics.

The action gets underway as Singapore and the Philippines lead off the tournament. Singapore finished eighth at the Asian Women’s Championship in 2004, with the Philippines having posted a fifth place finish at the 12-team event. Both teams also finished impressively at the 23rd Southeast Asian Games in 2005, with Singapore placing fourth and the Philippines taking the gold medal.

Following the first match-up, New Zealand is scheduled to take on event host Chinese Taipei. The two teams have not played each other in any major international tournaments so far this decade (women’s world championship or Olympics), so the result of this contest is tough to predict. Chinese Taipei finished with a 4-3 (won-lost) record during last year’s world championship, closely beating out New Zealand’s mark of 3-4.

The Kiwis will come into this tournament having just played six warm-up games in Melbourne, Australia. The White Sox sought to give themselves an edge for the regional qualifier by traveling ‘down under’ to play the VIS Titans in six games. Although they won two games and lost three (the other game was halted due to weather reasons), New Zealand’s extra practice, tight losses, and strong at-bats may prove to be an indicator of their possible success at the Olympic qualifier.

South Korea and DPR Korea will compete in game three of the first day of the tournament. Both teams are fresh off of the Asian Games last month, so they should be ready to compete for their shot at the 2008 Olympics.

The Africa/Europe Olympic Qualifier will follow the Asia/Oceania Olympic Qualifier, taking place from June 9-16 in Italy. Teams will compete in the Americas Olympic Qualifier August 18-26 in Venezuela to determine the eighth and final participant in next year’s marquee sporting event.

The complete Asia/Oceania Olympic Qualifier schedule is as follows: