South Korea embarrassingly crashed out of the World Baseball Classic on Wednesday as the Netherlands joined rookies Israel in round two. South Korea, the co-hosts and 2009 finalists, had lost their two opening games in Pool A and their fate was sealed when the Netherlands rallied to beat Taiwan 6-5.
It means Israel, made up of US-born professionals, and the Netherlands, powered by players from the Dutch Antilles, both reach next week's second round in Tokyo with a game to spare. South Korea have scored only one run in their 2-1 and 5-0 defeats to Israel and the Netherlands, prompting manager Kim In-Sik to deliver a public dressing-down to their batters.