The nightmare of elimination in the first round of the WBC 3rd consecutive finals again? The 'first round defeat jinx' continued in Premier 12
The nightmare of elimination in the first round of the WBC 3rd consecutive finals again? The 'first round defeat jinx' continued in Premier 12
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Will the nightmare of eliminating players from the first round of the World Baseball Classic (WBC) three consecutive finals be repeated in Premier 12 2024 as well? The Korean national baseball team has again been mired in its first jinx.메이저사이트
The Korean baseball team, led by head coach Ryu Joong-il, lost 3-6 to Taiwan in the first Group B match of the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier 12 2024 at Taipei Dome in Taiwan on the 13th.
At this year's event, Korea was in Group B with Taiwan, Cuba, Japan, the Dominican Republic and Australia. Without a single team in the group, Korea has to secure at least three wins and two losses and a maximum of five wins to advance to the Super Round, in which the runner-up in the group is awarded.
To this end, the first match was important. Ahead of the opening of the tournament, Ryu also stressed, "The first match is important. I will definitely win the match against Taiwan."
Ryu Joong-il is ordering a replacement of pitchers after Choi Ji-min was allowed to get on base with a hit ball in the bottom of the fifth inning with two outs. News 1
Attention was focused on who will start the first round, which was the game in which he risked his life and death. Ryu agonized over right-hander Kwak Bin, who boasts fastballs that can speed over 150 kilometers per hour, and Ko Young-pyo, a side arm that boasts the best ball control in the KBO league, although his maximum speed is in the mid to late 130 kilometers per hour. After much consideration, he came to the conclusion with Ko. "There was analysis of power that Taiwanese batters would not be able to hit well if they threw downward. That's also the case with the coach," Ryu said, explaining the reason why he selected Ko as the starting pitcher.
Ko Young-pyo also started at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC) and had a lot of international experience, raising expectations as an ace who will take charge of two games until the first game against Taiwan and the last game against Australia on the 18th.
However, Ko did not meet Ryu's expectations at all. He had two outs in the second inning, but was on the verge of loading the bases, hit a bases-loaded walk, and was hit with a two-run shot, allowing six runs in the second inning alone.
Ryu replaced the mound with Choi Ji-min (KIA) from the third inning, and Choi Ji-min kept 2.2 scoreless innings to calm the shaky mound. Since then, Kwak Do-gyu (KIA, 0.1 innings), Kim Seo-hyun (Hanwha, 1 inning), Yoo Young-chan (LG, 1 inning), and Cho Byung-hyun (SSG, 1 inning) have all mobilized the bullpen, which is the biggest strength of the national team, to block the Taiwanese batters with no runs.
However, it was too much to overturn the six runs that the batter lost in the early days of the game. The batters, who were no hit until the third inning by Taiwanese left-handed starter Lin Yeo-min, followed the two runs thanks to timely hits by Kim Do-young (KIA Tigers) and Park Dong-won (LG Twins) in the fourth inning. In the seventh inning, pinch hitter Na Seung-yeop hit a one-run homer, but he couldn't keep up and kneeled down.
Until now, the first round of international competitions in which the Korean national baseball team has left poor results have often been hampered. Notably, the WBC did so. The 2013 WBC, the 2017 WBC, and the 2023 WBC all lost in the first round, and eventually failed to make it to the first round of the finals for three consecutive games.
The competition, which gives tickets to the Super Round up to the second place in the group, is expected to see South Korea and Taiwan compete for the second place, with Japan's power considered the most advanced. Assuming that it loses to Japan, which is ahead of the other four teams in terms of power, it can secure a stable second place only when it grabs all four other teams and wins and loses four games.
However, Ryu Joong-il has a long way to go as it lost its first game to Taiwan, the second-ranked team. The Cuban team, which will play against Ryu at 7 p.m. on Friday (Korea time), is preparing its ace, Livan Moinello (Softbank Hawks), who ranked first in the Pacific League ERA (1.88), to start the game against Korea this season. If the team loses to Cuba, it will be practically impossible to advance to the Super Round on its own. Depending on the match against Cuba on Friday, whether the team will play the remaining three games of this year's championship with the eye on advancing to the Super Round depends on whether it will play it or not.