The Korean national baseball team, led by head coach Ryu Joong-il, will play the second preliminary match against Japan at 7 p.m. on the 17th at Tokyo Dome in Japan.
South Korea won 3-2 in the first round of the preliminary round against Australia on the 16th thanks to Roh Si-hwan (Hanwha Eagles)'s walk-off hit during the 10th inning of overtime.
With the victory in the first round, he is one step closer to the final. The top two teams will face off in the final after qualifying in the full league in this tournament, where South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and Australia will compete as under 24 years old (born after January 1, 1999) or under three years of professional membership.
South Korea will be able to ease the burden and play the preliminary round by taking one win ahead of the match against Japan and Taiwan, which are considered difficulties.
South Korea has not won a match between Korea and Japan except for the Asian Games since beating Japan 4-3 in the 2015 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier 12 semifinals. Japan makes up the Asian Games national team of amateur baseball players. In a competition in which Japan sent professional players, it lost in the match against Korea and Japan.
In particular, in the first round of the World Baseball Classic (WBC) in March this year, it suffered a humiliating 4-13 defeat.
Although it is a competition where promising players, not the best members, Korea is determined to avenge its crushing defeat.
Japan is considered to have the strongest power in this tournament.
The key is to target a solid Japanese mound, but South Korea expects No. 4 hitter.
Noh Si-hwan, who helped South Korea win the gold medal by playing as the fourth batter at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, showed off his good batting performance with three hits and one RBI from five times at bat, including a walk-off hit in the first game against Australia. In the fifth inning, he hit a double and hit a long ball.
Kim Joo-won, who started as shortstop for the 9th batter against Australia, also played 2 hits and 1 RBI in 3 at-bats, hitting a timely hit in the 8th inning, trailing 1-2.
However, there is a big concern as the lineup continues its frustrating trend against Australia. South Korea made eight hits and made three opponent errors, but failed to take advantage of the chance, making the game difficult.
Kim Hye-sung (Kium Heroes) and Jihoon Choi (SSG Landers), who formed the table setter, were all silent with no hits, so there is a possibility that it will change the batting order.
Lee Eui-ri (KIA Tigers) will be the starting pitcher. Considering that Japan has many left-handed batters, head coach Ryu entrusted left-hander Lee Eui-ri with the heavy responsibility of starting the match against Korea and Japan.
Lee Eui-ri, who joined KIA as the first pick in 2021, pitched 131 ⅔ in 28 games this year, his third year as a professional, with 11 wins, 7 losses and a 3.96 ERA.
During his three professional seasons, he recorded a career-high 76 games with 25 wins and 22 losses with a 3.83 ERA.
Lee Eui-ri, who also won the Rookie of the Year award in 2021, was named in the final entry for this year's Hangzhou Asian Games but failed a day before the convocation training. He suffered from being excluded from the entry due to finger blister symptoms and poor condition.
For Lee Eui-ri, who joined the national team at APBC, this match between Korea and Japan is an opportunity to shake off the regret of not playing as a member of the Hangzhou gold medal.