The schedules for baseball contests at the upcoming Asian Games have been set, the event’s organizers said on Friday.

Host South Korea, paired with Taiwan, Thailand and Hong Kong in Group B, will open its tournament against Thailand on Sept. 22 at Munhak Stadium in Incheon, the host city of the Asian Games.

The opening ceremony for the 16-day multisport competition is on Sept. 19.

South Korea will then face Taiwan on Sept. 24 also at Munhak, and the final group match will be against Hong Kong at Mokdong Stadium in western Seoul, just outside Incheon, the following day.

South Korea is in Group B with those three nations. Japan, China, Pakistan and Mongolia are in Group A. The top two seeds from each group will make up the semifinals, with the group winner facing the runner-up from the other group.

South Korea is the defending Asiad baseball champ. Its 24-man roster features 23 players from the top domestic league, the Korea Baseball Organization.

Taiwan and Japan are considered major threats to South Korea’s gold medal aspirations.

Taiwan will field about a dozen players from the U.S. minor leagues. Japan filled its 24-man squad entirely with amateurs, with no pros either from home or the majors, but at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, Qatar, a Japanese team of amateurs upset the South Korean pros, forcing South Korea to settle for bronze. (Yonhap)