In the summer of 2018, the South Korean national baseball team lost 1-2 to Chinese Taipei in a qualifier for the Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games. Yang Hyun-jong (Kia) gave up two runs in the first inning on a triple and a two-run home run, and the offense was unable to overcome the deficit. The media dubbed the loss the "Jakarta Disaster," as the team was only able to score one run against three pitchers from Taiwan's Unemployed Baseball Organization. South Korea eventually won the championship, but the memory of the disaster lingers.
Five years later, South Korean baseball is back in the hunt for the top spot in Asia. Head coach Ryu Jung-il's team will kick off the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games next month with a preliminary round game against Hong Kong at 7:30 p.m. (KST) at the Shaoxing Baseball Stadium in Zhejiang, China. South Korea has won four of the last seven Asian Games since the 1994 Hiroshima Games, when baseball was introduced as an official sport. Since Guangzhou 2010, they have lost three in a row and Ryu Jung-il-ho inherited a four-game losing streak.
'Generational change' is the mantra of this team.
For the first time in the tournament, South Korea has fielded an age-restricted team.
Players aged 25 or younger or in their fourth year of play were selected, along with three wildcards under 30.
As a result, 15 of the 24 players are newcomers to the Taeguk mark.
At a press conference before departure on July 27, Ryu said, "This tournament marks a generational change in Korea.
If we win a gold medal, we will be able to make a great contribution to the development of Korean baseball."
The cleanup trio has also been completely reorganized.
Ryu said the batting order in the team's only exhibition game at Gocheok Sky Dome (a 2-0 win over Sangmu) on April 26 was "80 percent complete." 바카라사이트
At the time, South Korea's third, fourth, and fifth spots were Noh Si-hwan (Hanwha), Kang Baek-ho (KT), and Moon Bo-kyung (LG).
Noh and Moon are making their first international appearances, while Kang Baek-ho is making his fourth, but he has a lot to prove as his previous three tournaments have been less than stellar.
The most anticipated player is Noh Si-hwan.
Noh is having a career-high season in the KBO this year, hitting 31 home runs in 126 games with a .298 batting average, .549 on-base percentage, and .938 slugging percentage (OPS).
He leads the league in home runs, on-base percentage, and OPS.
He did have a slight dip in production in September with two home runs.
After joining the national team, Noh said, "I need to play organized baseball rather than one-hit wonders.
I will focus on hitting the ball with precision."
Moon Bo-kyung is also in good form.
After batting in the mid-to-high teens this season, he heated up in September, raising his batting average to .409 before the call-up.
He was also selected to play first base for Ryu Joong-il, who doesn't have a professional first baseman, so he has a lot of responsibility on defense.
Kang Baek-ho, who has been plagued by injuries and slumps for most of the season, has also heated up recently, hitting safely in six straight league games.
The two even combined to go 2-for-3 in the last game against Sangmu. Baseball myths like "baseball is a pitcher's game" and "you can't trust the bat" are deeply rooted in the game, and the mound is more important than ever in the shortened format, but you don't lose four games in a row without the hitters focusing on the game.
Korea's three games in Group A will be crucial against Chinese Taipei on Feb. 2. A win over the Chinese Taipei will put them in the Super Round as the group's top seed and put them on the fast track to the finals, but they'll have their work cut out for them on the road. Can Ryu Jung-ilho erase the memory of the disaster and return home with gold?