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Ryu Jung-il, head coach of the South Korean baseball team, smiled despite a disappointing runner-up finish.
South Korea fell to Japan 3-4 on Makoto Kadoki’s walk-off hit in the bottom of the 10th inning in the final game of the 2023 APBC at the Tokyo Dome in Japan on Monday. In doing so, South Korea, which finished runner-up to Japan in the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2017, once again fell short of the title.
Choi Ji-min pitched a perfect 1⅔ innings in the eighth with runners on first and second with the score tied 2-2. In the top of the 10th inning, Yoon Dong-hee made it 3-2 with a single to right-center field. But Japan tied the game at 3-3 with runners on second and third off Jung Hae-young, and with the bases loaded again, Makoto Kadoki lined a single to left to make it 4-3.
After the match, head coach Ryu Jung-il said, “We played a great game. It’s a bit disappointing that we came from behind to lose, but both teams played really well. I would like to applaud the players of both teams.”
Although the team missed out on the title, the tournament showed a lot of promise for the young players. Moon Dong-joo and Won Tae-in, who have been performing well in international tournaments, pitched well again, while Lee Yi-ri and Kwak Bin, who have had disappointing memories, pitched their best against the top-ranked Japanese team.
Ryu said, “I thought the gap between Japanese and Korean baseball had widened. But through this tournament, I realized that if we work a little harder and stick to the basics, we can play on par with Japan.” “For pitchers, even the same 150 토토 kilometers made a difference in the tip of the ball. The batters were more sophisticated. They didn’t just strike out, they cut when they needed to,” he analyzed.
This year has been a year of international events: the World Baseball Classic (WBC) in March, the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games in early October, and now the APBC. In December, the Asian Baseball Championship will be held.
“I think the players have matured through this tournament,” says Liu. I think next year’s Premier 12 will be almost complete with the current members, and we will do our best to prepare and play better.”
Finally, he urged the players to continue to work hard and never stop practicing. “We had a short meeting after the game. I thanked them for their hard work and asked them for one thing as a baseball person,” he said.
“In the past, I went to SoftBank’s Miyazaki spring training camp in 2017 and 2018, and the pitchers threw more than 140 kilometers from the first day. The hitters also came to build their bodies to hit home runs. Japan has great weather, so baseball can be played all year round, but we know it’s hard to do the same in December and January because it’s cold, but I hope we can train for December and January without taking a break.”