The South Korean national baseball team, led by head coach Ryu Joong-il, will be able to continue its strong run toward the Asian Games gold medal for the fourth consecutive time. Following Japan, China was defeated and settled in the final of the Hangzhou Asian Games.
South Korea beat China 8-1 in the second round of the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games baseball super round held at the Shaoxing Baseball & Softball Sports Centre-Basball in Hangzhou, China on the 6th.
Starting pitcher Won Tae-in laid the foundation for his victory by pitching perfectly with three hits, six strikeouts, no four outs, and no runs in six innings. Jihoon Choi The bat easily overpowered China as 3 hits, 1 RBI, 2 hits, 1 RBI, 2 hits, 1 RBI, 3 hits, 1 RBI, 1 walk, 2 hits, 2 hits, 1 homer, 2 RBIs, 1 run, 1 run, 1 run, and 1 run from 3 times at bat Kim Joo-won.
In particular, Kang Baek-ho and Moon Bo-kyung, who had been in a severe batting slump with 2 hits in 14 at-bats and a batting average of 0.143 before this game, hit long balls side by side and increased their batting sense.
South Korea had two wins and one loss in the Super Round with its victory over China, securing at least second place over China and Japan. China was pushed to the bronze medal match with one win and two losses. In the case of Japan, it has two losses, so the bronze medal match was confirmed even if it won the match against Taiwan on the evening of the day as soon as Korea beat China.
In the super round of baseball at the Hangzhou Asian Games, the first and second places in Group A and Group B will gather to play. The top two countries will play the gold medal match and the bottom two countries will play the bronze medal match.
However, there is no rematch between the teams that faced off in the group stage. The results of the group match will be reflected in the final ranking of the Super Round. For this reason, Taiwan, which beat South Korea, Hong Kong and Thailand in Group B, not only reached the super round as the group’s top spot, but also started with one win.
On the other hand, Korea entered the super round with one loss. South Korea took a breather by beating Japan 2-0 in the first round of the Super Round on the 5th, and beat China on the same day to reach the gold medal match without calculating complicated cases.
Following three group wins, Taiwan was the first to win two games in the super round, beating China 4-1 the day before. Regardless of the results of the match against Japan to be held this evening, they will face South Korea in the gold medal match.
China made the best upset in the history of baseball at the Asian Games, beating Japan 1-0 in the final Group A match on the 3rd, but it failed to continue its upward trend. As they knelt down to Taiwan and Korea one after another, they will play the bronze medal match.
Chinese baseball has never been on the podium in Asian Games baseball. It has repeatedly ranked fourth, behind Asian baseball powers such as Korea, Japan, and Taiwan. He is trying to win his first medal in Chinese baseball at the tournament, which will be held on his home turf.
Korea’s coach Ryu Joong-il picked Won Tae-in as the starting pitcher on the day. Won Tae-in started in the first Group B match against Hong Kong on the 1st and pitched four scoreless innings. After taking a four-day break, he took the mound with the mission of leading South Korea to victory against China.
The batting line is composed of Kim Hye-sung (second baseman, Kiwoom), Jihoon Choi (midfielder, SSG), Yoon Dong-hee (right wing, Lotte), Noh Si-hwan (third baseman, Hanwha), Moon Bo-kyung (first baseman, LG), Kang Baek-ho (designated hitter, KT), Kim Joo-won (hitters, NC), Kim Hyung-joon (catcher, NC) and Kim Sung-yoon (left wing, Samsung). The previous day, he took the lineup against Japan to the match against China.
South Korea pushed China from the beginning of the first inning. After one out, Jihoon Choi got on base due to a throwing error by Chinese shortstop Yang Jin, and tried to tag up when Yoon Dong-hee made a foul fly to right field and succeeded in advancing to second base. He then took a chance with two outs and runners on first and second base with Roh Si-hwan’s walk on base. However, Moon Bo-kyung’s well-hit ball headed to the front of the second baseman and was out with an infield grounder and finished his first attack without a score.
The disappointment of not scoring in the top of the first inning was immediately resolved in the attack in the top of the second inning. Leadoff hitter Kang Baek-ho opened the attack with a clean right-handed hit. At first base with no outs, Kim Joo-won hit a two-run home run against Chinese starter Wang Wei-yi to make the score 2-0.
The Korean batting lineup, which gained momentum, quickly gained additional points. Kim Hyung-joon’s hit, Kim Sung-yoon’s sacrifice bunt, and Kim Hye-sung’s infield hit gathered runners, and Kim Hyung-joon, who was at third base, stepped on the home plate and ran 3-0 when Jihoon Choi hit a fly ball to right field with one out and first and third bases.
Korea didn’t even take a break from the attack in the top of the third inning. After leadoff hitter Noh Si-hwan’s left-handed hit, Moon Bo-kyung’s double play cut the flow once, but Kang Baek-ho changed the atmosphere. Kang Baek-ho exploded a solo home run over the right fence, giving South Korea a comfortable 4-0 lead.
With this home run, Kang Baek-ho tasted the joy of his adult national team’s first long hit as well as his first home run. Before the Hangzhou Asian Games, Kang Baek-ho showed off his appearance as an “international hitter” with a total of 17 hits in 47 at-bats and a batting average of 0.362 until the 2019 WBSC Premier 12, the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, and the WBC in March this year, but he did not have a home run. 온라인경마
The Korean batters beat the Chinese mound once again in the top of the fourth inning. Leadoff hitter Kim Sung-yoon’s hit and Jihoon Choi’s hit after one out led to a one-out, first and third base chances connected to the center lineup. Yoon Dong-hee’s RBI timely hit and Noh Si-hwan’s RBI outfield sacrifice fly scored two more runs, making the score 6-0.
Won Tae-in also responded to the batting lineup’s hot scoring support with good pitching. One-Teein struck out Liang Pei in the bottom of the first inning, grounded Lu Yun to first base, and grounded Ku Yong-Kang to second base to get off to a good start with three outs. After two outs in the bottom of the second inning, he allowed a heavy hit to Cheonjiage, but immediately handled Jang Won-tao with a ground ball to the second base and finished the inning. At the end of the third inning, he struck out Yang Jin, struck out Dunan with a fly ball and Liang Fei, the second baseman, and roared.
The Chinese batters also did not easily back down in the middle of the game. Won Tae-in faced a crisis with two outs in the bottom of the fourth inning after consecutive hits by Ko Yu-yong-Kang and Cao Xie.