(30 July 1996; Day 11)
After two weeks of round-robin action at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, the baseball venue, the medal round is set. With the exception of possibly Nicaragua, the four-team field qualified as expected, but the outcome of the semifinals and finals are anything but guaranteed based on the play in the preliminaries.
Japan, which needed a 12-1 victory over Italy to advance into medal contention, qualifies as the No. 3 seed and earns the right to play the United States, the No. 2 seed. Japan tied Nicaragua with an identical 4-3 mark, but won the head-to-head matchup to win the tiebreaker and get the higher seeding. Nicaragua will play defending Olympic champion Cuba in the other semifinal in a rematch of one of the closer games of the tournament.
Cuba (7-0), which has won 141 consecutive games in international tournament action, was challenged by each of the teams in the medal round only to prevail. It is the experience factor that gives Cuba the advantage over the rest of the field, says Italian head coach Silvano AMBROSIONI.
"The Cuban team is old enough to handle the emotion of a medal game," says AMBROSIONI, who jokingly claims his experience from watching many championship games instead of playing in them. Despite the inexperience in international play, AMBOSIONI admits the USA is still "strong like the Cuban team".
While many might pencil in the USA and Cuba in the gold medal game, both Japan and Nicaragua will also be playing for a chance to win the top prize.
Katsuji KAWASHIMA, the Japanese head coach, says,"This time we hope that we are going to hit and smash him", speaking of the USA's Kris BENSON, the anticipated starter for the host country in the semifinal game between the countries.
AMBROSIONI agrees Japan has a chance against the USA if its pitching can perform like it did against his squad.
"If they (Japan) use those three pitchers and they pitch like they did (against us), the USA is going to be in trouble," says AMBROSIONI.
As for Nicaragua chances of upending Cuba, they came as close as any team of stopping the defending Olympic Champion's winning streak. Nicaragua led four different times in its game against Cuba only to fall in the end.
Says Nicaragua's Nemesio PORRAS, "We are going to do the best we can to give a big thrill to the Nicaraguan fans."
This is an official publication of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games Sports Publications Department. Written by Steven R. Shaff.
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| Pin trading was one of the most popular Olympic sports, with more than 1.2 million pins changing hands during the Games in the Coca Cola Pin Trading Center at Centennial Olympic Park. |