The future of the Korean national baseball team is difficult. After being defeated by Chinese Taipei in the first edition of the 2024 Premier 12, even the fourth hitter of Japan, the third opponent, is pledging to win the game against Korea.
Taiwan on the 13th. News 1″ data-type=”article”/>
Korean players are disappointed after losing in the Premier 12 match against Taiwan on the 13th. News 1
Korea will face Japan in the Group B match at Taipei Dome in Taiwan at 7 p.m. on the 15th. This is Korea’s third match and Japan’s second match.
Japan, the winner of the last tournament, defeated its first opponent, Australia, 9-3 at Nagoya Dome, Japan on the 13th and moved to Taiwan on the 14th. Shota Morishita (24, Hanshin Tigers), who was in charge of the Japanese national team’s number 4 hitter, said in an interview with his country’s media, “I started the first game as the number 4 hitter, so I want to maintain this position in the game against Korea,” and “I want to keep this position in the game against Korea.” “I never want to lose,” he said. He played well against Australia with 3 hits in 4 at-bats, 1 walk, 2 RBI, and 3 runs scored.
Korea, Japan, and Taiwan, the ‘three powerhouses’ of Asian baseball, have had a close relationship for a long time. In particular, Korea, which is in the middle in terms of objective power, has always had to maintain a tight tension between Japan, which is ‘one level above’, and Taiwan, which is ‘one level below’. This is because both Japan and Taiwan entered the international competition with the determination to “capture Korea at all costs.”
Rivalry between national teams is a different problem from the level of professional baseball leagues in each country. Every time Korea met Japan, they fought with concentration that exceeded their ability, and Taiwan always used their strongest starting pitcher against Korea, often resulting in painful defeats.
The problem is that the status of Korean baseball in Asia has recently been shaken. Korea finished runner-up in the 2019 Premier 12, but lost three games, two against Japan and one against Chinese Taipei. In this tournament as well, they were placed in Group B with Japan and Taiwan, but lost 3-6 in their first game against Taiwan on the 13th. In the past, when losing to Taiwan, they were pushed back in ‘momentum’, but recently it seems that it is becoming difficult to win even with ‘skill’.
Shota Morishita, fourth batter of the Japanese national baseball team. Kyodo = Yonhap News
Meanwhile, the gap with Japan, the most powerful country in Asia, has widened further. Since 2015, they have lost all six games against Japan’s elite national team. Japan’s power is stronger than Korea’s in this tournament as well.
Korea made advancing to the super round (semi-finals) a top priority in this tournament. Japan, which is likely to take first place in Group B, considered it an ‘insurmountable wall’ and set a goal of taking second place in Group B and boarding a plane to Tokyo. Nevertheless, Japan is still not letting down its guard against Korea. Morishita said, “Korean baseball has many similarities to ours. I know that Korea is a very strong team,” and expressed his determination, “If I get a chance to score an RBI in the game against Korea, I will focus on creating batted balls for the team.”
Reporter Bae Youngeun [email protected]
