On the 26th, the Hangzhou Asian Games Baseball Team and Sangmu will hold a practice game at the Gocheok Sky Dome. Before the game, pitchers Kim Young-kyu, Na Kyun-an, Park Se-woong and Jung Woo-young are warming up.

[By Kim Young-rok, Sports Chosun] Ryu Joong-il will be looking to repeat the glory he achieved at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games, and the key will be the group stage match against Chinese Taipei.

Last weekend, the Hangzhou Asian Games team trained at the Gocheok Sky Dome. The 24 members of the national team were called up from their respective teams without any interruption to the regular season.

Head coach Ryu Jung-il is an “experienced” coach, having already led the team to the 2014 Incheon Asian Games title, but there are no veterans from that team left as the squad is young, with an average age of 23, without a single veteran in his 30s. The most experienced pitcher is Park Se-woong, and the most experienced batsmen are Choi Ji-hoon and Choi Won-jun. The most experienced players are Kang Baek-ho (four times), who has been with the national team since the 2019 Premier 12, and Park Se-woong and Kim Hye-sung (three times), who will be participating in the Tokyo Olympics-2023 WBC and Hangzhou Asian Games.

Coach Liu said, “We will go all out against Taiwan. We need to top the group. If we can keep them within two or three points, we have a good chance of winning. We’ll think about the Japan game and the final later.” While Japan’s national team has a high level of talent, it is composed mainly of social baseball players, while Taiwan’s team is composed of professional players with military service benefits like Korea’s, so the pressure is even greater.

When the team was called up, the KBO provided the players with power analysis videos of their key opponents. It was also broadcast on the Gocheok Dome scoreboard. The players’ attention was also drawn to Taiwan, where a number of minor leaguers were selected.

Before the call-up, some players said, “I was nervous because a lot of American players joined the team, but they were playing in Double-A and Single-A, not Triple-A.” However, after watching the video, the mood changed 180 degrees.

Our players have been on high alert for Taiwan, especially with the dynamic pitching of left-hander Lin Yumin (Arizona Double-A) and right-handers Fan Wen-hui (Philadelphia Single-A) and Liu Zhi-long (Boston Double-A), who can reach speeds of up to 98 mph (158 km/h).

Liu’s rush to add right-hander Yun Dong-hee to the roster was also driven by the team’s high proportion of left-handed hitters. Lin Yumin throws a hard fastball with a sidearm-like three-quarter delivery. He is considered a potential starter against South Korea. 바카라사이트

Who will start? Ryu has announced a 1+1 tandem. Moon Dong-joo, Jang Hyun-seok, Won Tae-in, Park Se-woong, Na Kyun-an, and Kwak Bin are the six starters.

Liu will likely use Jang Hyun-seok and others in the less demanding games against Hong Kong and the qualifiers to minimize the use of energy. Despite his young age, Jang is recognized for his fastball and stamina. He was able to throw a 157-kilometer fastball into the eighth inning in Cheongnyonggi.

Kwak Bin and Moon Dong-ju seem to be the two most likely starters against Taiwan at this point.

After the team’s final training session before departure on the 27th, head coach Ryu Jung-il said, “I’m still thinking about who to pick against Taiwan. I’m trying to choose between Kwak Bin and Moon Dong-joo. I’m thinking about their arm swing and the swing trajectory of the opposing Taiwanese hitters. We are still discussing with the staff.”

Park Se-woong is likely to be used against Japan, but only in the game deemed most important by the situation. He has a lot of experience and the responsibility of being the most senior member of the team. He is the one who needs gold the most, and he is the pitcher who was in the best shape before joining the team.

The team will head to Hangzhou, China, on Sept. 28 for a local training camp on Sept. 29-30 before playing the first and second games of the group stage against Hong Kong on Oct. 1 and Chinese Taipei on Oct. 2.