The Olympic Qualifiers are upon us and official play started yesterday with the start of a Group B play-in round-robin featuring Pakistan, Hong Kong, Thailand and the Philippines. The winner of the group will get the privilege of being slaughtered by Taiwan, South Korea and Japan in the Group A games that start Dec. 1. The winner gets an automatic bid into the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. China’s bid is automatic due to its hosting of the games.

There should be some great action. From the Korean perspective I can tell you the importance of these games is much greater than recent baseball World Cup, which wasn’t even covered in Korea until the second round. However, during the Cup, there were regular updates on the national team’s scrimmages.

Plus, the new-found rivalry between the Korean and Taiwanese teams, plus the general hatred of Japan by all, should make for some intense games. Keep in mind the national teams over here by-in-large send the best of their best players. You’re going to see?Yu Darvish, Hu Chin-Lung, Ryu Hyun-jin…all the big names.

The Japanese team is already in Taiwan. Here’s a recent Japan Times article about its final tuneup and preparations.

Typically in this situation, heading into a big series or matchup, the Korean media will come out with several pieces ripping the team and speculating on it’s weaknesses. Here is one such article from the Korea Times entitled Pitching Depth Concern for Baseball Team. The caption on the lead photo of Park Chan-ho reads: Park Chan-ho isn’t fooling anyone with his diminished fastball.

Taiwan Baseball recently had a round up of the Taiwanese team’s final scrimmage along with a roster preview.

In yesterday’s games the Pakistanis, perhaps over-anticipating its country’s return to civilian rule, were shutout 2-0 by the Philippines. Thailand, surely ornery following five mercy losses during the World Cup, beat Hong Kong 8-4.