The 2011 Asia Series will open at one p.m. Friday in Taichung, Taiwan.

The international baseball tournament in East Asia will open with a match between South Korea’s Samsung Lions and Australia’s Perth Heat.

The champions of the Korean Baseball Organization, the Australian Baseball League, Nippon Professional Baseball, and the Chinese Professional Baseball League will compete in the event.

The teams that rank first and second in the preliminaries will take a one-day break on Monday before competing in the finals at eight p.m. Tuesday.

Samsung will play against Japan’s Fukoka Softbank Hawks on Saturday.