The South Korean national baseball team, led by head coach Ryu Joong-il, beat Taiwan 2-0 in the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games baseball gold medal match at the Shaoxing Baseball & Softball Sports Centre-Baseball in Hangzhou, China on the 7th.
With this victory, South Korea won its sixth gold medal in its career following the 1998 Bangkok, 2002 Busan, 2010 Guangzhou, 2014 Incheon, and 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games. He achieved the feat of winning the Asian Games for the fourth time in a row and rang the national anthem at the Saoxing Baseball Sports and Culture Center.
South Korea pushed Taiwan from the beginning of the gold medal match to pay back the pain of the 0-4 defeat to Taiwan in the second Group B match on the 2nd. Moon Dong-ju (Hanwha), who started as a starting pitcher, silenced his Taiwanese bat with three hits, seven strikeouts and no runs in six innings. 스포츠토토
The batters also showed concentration in the early stages of the game. Kim Joo-won’s RBI outfield sacrifice fly and Taiwanese starter Lin Yu-min’s wild pitch in the top of the second inning gave him an additional point to take a 2-0 lead.
South Korea steadily sought to score additional points, but failed to widen the gap due to the pressure of Taiwan’s second pitcher LIU Chih-Jung, who took the mound from the top of the sixth inning. Instead, Choi Ji-min (KIA) and Park Young-hyun (KT) blocked Taiwan’s pursuit in the bottom of the seventh and eighth innings without losing a point, getting closer to the gold medal.
Coach Ryu Joong-il left Ko Woo-suk with three out counts remaining until the gold medal with the start of defense in the bottom of the ninth inning. Ko Woo-suk pitched his best to avoid repeating the disappointment of being in trouble with two runs in one inning against Taiwan on the 2nd. He got off to a good start by catching the leadoff batter with an infield fly ball.
However, from the time Ko Woo-suk faced Taiwan’s third batter Lynlee, the referee’s strike decision was back and forth and suffered. On the TV broadcast screen, the balls inserted into the strike zone were judged to be balls one after another.
Ko Woo-suk and catcher Kim Hyung-joon (NC) looked despondent, but the referee’s decision was inconsistent. The ball that was out of the strike zone was judged as a strike and tilted his head.
Ko Woo-suk sat down on the mound for a while, unable to hide his regret. Kim Hyung-joon also failed to complain to the referee, but there was a clear sign that he was not convinced by the decision.
Ko Woo-suk allowed Linley and Lin Anker consecutive hits in the ball count, which was disadvantageous in the aftermath of a dubious strike decision. Tensions grew on the ground as the team was on the verge of one out and runners on first and second bases.
But Ko and Korean baseball did not fall apart. Ko Woo-suk induced Wu Yeng-ting to hit an infield grounder, and South Korean second baseman Kim Hye-sung tagged out the first base runner and immediately connected it to the first base throw, ending the game.
As soon as the gold medal was confirmed, the players in the Korean dugout on the first base ran to the ground in unison and enjoyed the joy of winning. Ko Woo-suk, who won his first save as a member of the national team, shed tears and shook off his sluggish performance at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
Kim Hyung-joon briefly headed to the dugout before the Korean players held Taegeukgi in both hands and performed a simple ceremony on the ground. I was going to take off my catcher’s gear and head back to my teammates.
At this time, the referee approached Kim Hyung-joon. The referee said a “winning ball” with a smile and handed the ball over. South Korean first baseman Moon Bo-kyung (LG) received Kim Hye-sung’s throw and threw his glove on the ground in excitement after the last 27th out count was completed, and the gold medal commemorative ball was momentarily lost. After acquiring the ball, the referee visited Kim Hyung-joon and delivered it before leaving the stadium.
Kim Hyung-joon took over the winning ball with a smile and briefly expressed his regret for the strike decision in the bottom of the ninth inning to the referee. The referee did not answer back and lightly tapped Kim Hyung-joon on the shoulder with a smile and disappeared. Kim Hyung-joon also went back to the ground and enjoyed the moment of joy of winning a gold medal with his teammates.
Ko Woo-suk, who must have been in trouble on the mound as much as Kim Hyung-joon, said after the award ceremony, “I and Kim Hyung-joon were all disappointed (in the 9th inning).” “When I think about it afterwards, I think the decision was made to end in a double play like that.”
Also, “Kim Hyung-joon led so well when he became the first and second bases with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning.” I was able to throw it coldly because Hyung-joon did a good job on the part that I hadn’t thought about.