South Korea also underlined their gold medal aspirations by pummelling the Netherlands 10-0 in eight innings to finish with the only unbeaten record (7-0), one game ahead of Cuba.

Cuban batters pounded Chinese pitchers for 20 hits, highlighted by Giorbis Duvergel cracking the Beijing Games’ first grand slam to key a nine-run second inning.

Michel Enriquez and Ariel Pestano contributed two-run homers as the triple Olympic champions improved their record to 6-1, setting up a semi-final meeting with the United States or Japan, who close out their schedules later on Wednesday.

“For our next game we are not going to change anything,” said Cuba’s manager Antonio Pacheco. “Our strategy worked fine today so there is nothing for us to change.

“We are always confident and today’s win helped with that.”

The Koreans continue to be the surprise package of the Olympic tournament having toppled gold medal favorites Cuba, Japan and the United States on their way to a perfect record.

The lopsided victory over the 1-6 Dutch, however, will not count among the Korean shocks.

Lee Dae-ho had two-run homer and Lee Taek-keun contributed a solo shot as the Koreans battered the Dutch pitching for 16 hits.

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