Korfball history was made today as Chinese Taipei made the step up to A nation status as its seemingly unstoppable momentum continued today with a 14 - 13 over Belgium.

Sadly the Korfball world found itself unable to share in this historic and by all accounts highly entertaining moment thanks to the failure of the live web casting by the KOC, who were for reasons yet to be explained given the rights for such broadcasts.

Chinese Taipei set the early pace with mid range goals from Wu Chun Hsien and Luo Wan Yao in the first 10 minutes but Belgium were not going to let their silver crown go without a fight and a penalty from Jesse de Bremaeker and a mid range goal from Veronique Biot brought them even at 2 - 2 with 12 minutes gone.

Belgium quickly used its first time out but it was to have little effect as the unstoppable Wu Chun Hsien scored twice from close range to take the score to 4 - 2.

Jeffery Campers scored from mid range to bring Belgium to within one at 4 - 3 but a penalty miss Jesse de Bremaeker demonstrated how much pressure the Belgians were under and Taipei were quick to regain the momentum and extend the lead to 5 - 3 with a free pass goal from Chu Shu Ping.

A penalty miss from Fan Huang Ling prompted a time out from Taipei followed immediately by another goal from Wu Chun Hsien.

Belgium the score back to 6 - 4 with a mid range goal from Jens Van Hoof but Taipei responded with a goal from Chu Shu Ping.

With a minute remaining in the half Jesse de Bremaekers made up for his earlier miss with a goal from the penalty spot to send the Belgians into the half time break trailing Taipei by a score of 7 - 5.

Belgium got off to a good start in the 2nd period with a mid range goal from Nick Janssens in the 32nd minute but Taipei were quick to respond and goals from Wu, Chu and Huang took them into a 10 - 7 lead.

Possibly seeing the game slipping away from them the Belgian coach brought on Jarrett de Vriendt for Nick Janssens and
Annick Dekeyser for Sari Janssens but Taipei soon extended their lead to 11 - 7 with a mid range goal from Huang Ling Fang.

As they battled desperately to get back in the game Nick Janssens brought hope to the Belgian side with two conversions from the penalty sport to bring his side to within 2 at 11 - 9, but Taipei replied instantly with a penalty goal of their own from Huang Ling Fang. 

Chinese Taipei called a time out with 9 minutes to go and the score at 12 - 9 and the question now was whether Belgium would be able to mount a desperate comeback as the seconds ticked away.

Luo Wan Yao piled the pressure on the Belgian side with a mid range goal and at that stage it was looking all over but the Belgian side had other ideas and 3 mid range goals in two minutes from Jesse de Bramaeker and Jeffery Campers brought Belgium to within 2 goals at 13 - 11 with just 4 minutes to go.

The Belgians then made a desperate substitution replacing Patty Peeters with Renske Dardenne and with two minutes on the clock Belgian substitute Annick Dekeyser set the stadium alight with a goal from mid range to bring Belgium to within a single goal at 13 - 12.

Chinese Taipei held their nerve and the seemingly unstoppable Wu Chun Hsien no doubt sent the home crowd into a frenzy with his last minute goal.

As Belgium mounted one last desperate attack Jesse de Bremaekers brought some hope to the Belgians in the dying seconds but it was too late and Korfball history was to be made.

Chinese Taipei now will head confidently towards a semi final meeting with what is likely to be Germany or Russia and although it remains a slim possibility that they may still slip up against England that seems a somewhat unlikely view based on what has happened in this tournament so far.  Whether Chinese Taipei have reached a stage where they will be able to challenge the Dutch remains to be seen and for the moment there will be more pressing issues, but it seems likely that on the basis of the performance either their status will be upgraded to that of an 'A' nation, or Belgium's will be downgraded to that of a 'B' nation.

This result has been the culmination of a progressive, imaginative and visionary plan that has run for some years now aimed solely at Chinese Taipei being able to challenge the Dutch and Belgians and you cannot suspect there is a lot more to come yet

Where Belgian goes from here is not clear and this result has been on the cards for a long time now.

As far as the future is concerned Belgian Korfball will now have to have a serious about its structures and may well wish that it taken greater advantage of the Tenovis Talent Development Programme when it had the chance. rather than focus on short term results in domestic competition.  Chinese Taipei's momentum will continue at pace and Belgium will likely have a real task on their hands if they are to ensure that their grip on the silver medal position is not lost again at the World Games and rest assured the Chinese Taipei plan and vision extends that far and beyond.

Are England good enough to beat Chinese Taipei on Wednesday?  In reality probably not and you would not bet any money on them doing so that you were not happy to lose.  English Korfball does not have a Taipei style structure, plan or vision and the Chinese Taipei players are able to train a far higher levels in terms of quantity and quality than the English players could dream of.  Also unlike their English counterparts the Taipei players so not have to adjust their styles of play and levels of intensity depending on who they are playing for and they get to play far more high intensive games.

It is unlikely that England will be able to simply look to outscore Taipei so the question is whether they can contain them defensively.  Bearing in mind Belgium failed at just that task that seems unlikely, but the with a win against Catalonia tomorrow under their belts and a route to the 5th/6th play off in their grasp England can certainly go into the game without any pressure.

With the IKF's silence on the failure of the web casting reaching deafening proportions we must sadly assume that we will not get to watch any coverage of this tournament.  The big question remains as to whether we might get to see it after the event bearing in the KOC appear to have obtained the 'rights' to it.