Taiwan crush China's hopes

The loss droped China's record to 2-4 and earned Taiwan a small measure of revenge for an earlier baseball defeat.

But the contest lacked the drama and tension seen on Friday when the two rivals clashed on the Wukesong baseball diamond in a politically-tinged thriller won by China.

With Taiwan out of medal contention and China clinging to slim hopes of reaching the semi-finals the contest was more about cross-strait bragging rights than medals.

The game began with a display of sportsmanship as Chinese players in their red and yellow uniforms mingled with their Taiwanese counterparts in their blue and white kit for a combined team photo.

Played in a steady drizzle in front a boisterous near-capacity crowd at Fengtai Field, Taiwan scored in the top of the first inning and never relinquished the lead, clinching victory on Lu Hsueh-Mei's fourth inning RBI double.

With China fighting to stay in the medal hunt, some the earlier goodwill disappeared in the seventh when Taiwan protested that China coaches were using headphones to communicate with players.

The protest triggered a lengthy debate at home plate between umpires and both managers before play resumed after a Chinese coach was ordered to remove his headset.

"Protesting is part of the game," Taiwan manager Chang Chia Hsing told reporters. "I thought they had earphones for communicating.

"The China team had a very good performance but I think they suffered from high stress and pressure to win."

Japan used a four-run fifth-inning burst to beat Venezuela 5-2 and improve their record to 5-1. They now sit just behind unbeaten United States (5-0), who can clinch top spot in the standings with a victory over winless Netherlands later.