Taipei - Taiwan, still reeling from its defeat at the hands of China at the Beijing Olympics, is aiming to advance to the top eight at the 2009 World Baseball Classic, a baseball official said Friday.

"In the first World Baseball Classic held in 2006, Taiwan failed to make it into the top eight. So our goal is to beat either Japan or South Korea and advance into the top eight," Lin Tzung-cheng, secretary-general of the Chinese-Taipei Baseball Association, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

"We have already chosen six coaches and will make the first-round selection of 45 players before the year-end. The players will come from local players as well as players who are playing in the US and Japan," he added.

Japan, South Korea and Taiwan are the three baseball nations in Asia, but China is catching up and humiliated Taiwan 8-7 at the Beijing Olympics.

The defeat in Beijing made Taiwan fans worry about the future of baseball in Taiwan.

Taiwan's professional baseball is in limbo as the six-team league has lost two teams recently - with the T-Rex team being dissolved in October over game-fixing and the China Trust Whales being disbanded in November due to lack of funds.

While many Taiwan fans are concerned about the downsizing of the baseball league, Lin says he sees it as a good chance for the league to reorganize.

"The best players from the two (disbanded) teams will join the other four teams, so the league will become stronger," he said.

The United States hosted the first World Baseball Classic in 2006 with 16 teams playing a total of 36 games at four venues.

The second World Baseball Classic will kick off on March 5, 2009 with the preliminaries being played in Tokyo, Toronto, Peurto Rico, Mexico City, San Diego and Miami.

The finals will be played March 21-23 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. (dpa)