Japan-China win or no win? Liu Zhongilao's 'final four' is the number of cases where

Ryu Jung-il wipes the sweat off his face during the baseball game between South Korea and Chinese Taipei at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games Group B baseball tournament at the Shaoxing Baseball Sports and Cultural Center near Hangzhou, China, on February 2. The South Korean national team lost to Chinese Taipei 0-4 on Sunday. 

"We lost to Chinese Taipei, but we're not eliminated. We still have a chance (to win). If we meet Chinese Taipei again in the final, we will be very happy."

Ryu Jung-il-ho hung his head after a humiliating loss to Chinese Taipei at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games.

But he still had hopes of winning gold. He is determined to smile with a gold medal around his neck at the end, just like he did five years ago at the Jakarta-Palembang Games, when he lost his first game and ended up on top.

The team, led by coach Ryu Jung-il, lost 0-4 to Chinese Taipei in the second game of Group B of the first round of the baseball competition at the Baseball and Softball Sports Center 1 in Shaoxing, China, on Feb. 2.

While Yoon Dong-hee and Choi Ji-hoon led the way with three and two hits, respectively, the Korean offense was unable to capitalize on any of the Taiwanese pitching. As the most intimidating opponent, we had done a thorough power analysis of Taiwan, but when we lifted the lid, it was useless. The bats never really got going.

South Korea's players, including Kang Baek-ho, express their disappointment after their 0-4 loss to Chinese Taipei during the baseball main event Group B match between South Korea and Chinese Taipei at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games at the Shaoxing Baseball Sports and Cultural Center near Hangzhou, China, on October 2. 

South Korea's baseball team suffered its third consecutive loss against Chinese Taipei, a team that has never been able to compete in international tournaments with professional players. They were held scoreless for 23 consecutive innings.

With the gold medal still up for grabs, the team will be looking to shake off the loss and get back on track.

South Korea can clinch a spot in the Super Round with a 2-1 record if they win the final game of the first round against Thailand (2 losses), the weakest team in Group 3. Chinese Taipei (2 wins) will play Hong Kong (1 loss) in the final game of the day and have a good chance of making it three straight wins due to the large objective power differential.

The Super Round will feature the first- and second-place finishers from Groups A and B, followed by the first-round head-to-head matchups between the advancing teams. If Korea plays Chinese Taipei in the Super Round, the team will start with one loss, so even if Korea wins both games on days 5 and 6 of the Super Round, it will still be 2-1.

In Pool A, Japan and China, with two wins apiece, qualified for the Super Round, with the first and second place finishes dependent on the results of their head-to-head matches on Day 3. South Korea will open the Super Round against the second-place team on Friday and will face the first-place team on Saturday.

Barring a bite-sized upset in Shenzhen, South Korea is effectively locked into the bronze medal game with one more loss. South Korea must win two games in the Super Round to reach the final.

Even a 2-1 record would not guarantee a spot in the final, as the other teams' results will be crucial.

This year's tournament adopts the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) rule that the winner of a tiebreaker will be ranked higher if the teams have the same number of wins and losses.

If Taiwan catches Japan in the Super Round, there's no need to bust out the calculator. If South Korea beats both Japan and China, they will advance to the final on their own and play Taiwan for the gold medal. That's the scenario the team is currently hoping for.

However, if Taiwan falls to Japan, things get complicated and South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan all go 2-1.

When three or more teams have the same number of wins and losses, Team Quality Balance (TQB) is used to determine the tiebreaker. TQB is (runs scored/offensive innings)-(runs allowed/defensive innings), which is similar to goal differential in soccer and basketball. However, in baseball, teams may have different offensive and defensive innings to account for.

If the TQB is the same, the final ranking is determined by (ERA-TQB) and team batting average in tiebreaker games.

Korea, Japan, and Chinese Taipei were split by TQB in the Super Round of the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang tournament. The three teams were tied at 2-1, with South Korea and Japan posting +0.167 and +0.056 in TBB, respectively, to edge out Chinese Taipei, which finished at just ?0.222.

Liu Zhong-il is already at a disadvantage in Hangzhou. Hopefully, Taiwan will catch Japan, but if Japan catches Taiwan, everything is in the team's hands. After losing to Chinese Taipei without scoring a single point, South Korea will have the task of pulling off a big win against their arch-rivals in the Super Round. 토토사이트