The Korean National Team, which participated in the 1st World Deaf Baseball Championship, returned home from Cheongju Airport on the 1st.
The tournament, which aims to promote the rights and interests of deaf people around the world through the internationalization of deaf baseball and to deepen friendship and understanding among deaf people, was held in Taipei, Taiwan, from the 24th to the 29th of last month. Five countries, including Korea, Japan, Taiwan, the United States, and Mexico, competed in the tournament.
The 17-player Korean team, which was formed in mid-November last year, has been preparing for the tournament by holding three training sessions at the Chungju Tangeum Baseball Stadium despite the cold winter weather.
South Korea played its first game against the United States on the second day of the tournament. The ballpark was Taiwan National Sports University Stadium, which was originally scheduled to be a professional baseball stadium in downtown Taipei, 안전놀이터 but the field conditions were poor and the weather was as cold as Korea’s early winter.
From the very beginning of the game,
The Korean team was unable to get into a groove due to extreme pitching difficulties. Kim Gun-hyung, who started the game, had a fastball that was in the upper echelon of speed at 130 kilometers per hour, but he was unable to control it at all and walked a string of batters without getting a hit. The next pitcher repeated the same situation, eventually giving up 10 runs in the first inning alone. The offense came alive in the last inning, but the team lost the first game with a final score of 7-19.
On the third day of the tournament, Korea played a doubleheader against Mexico and Chinese Taipei at the Tien Mu Baseball Stadium, a professional baseball stadium, and won 7-0 against Mexico and 21-4 against Chinese Taipei to recover from the shock of the first day’s loss to the U.S. Especially against Chinese Taipei, who had beaten the U.S. 6-5 the day before, it was hard not to wonder if Korea could have beaten the U.S. if they had been in better shape.
South Korea, the United States, and Chinese Taipei were all tied at 2-1, while Mexico had three losses and Japan still had two wins. South Korea still had a game against Japan the next day, so there was some hope that if they could beat Japan, they could win the championship.
Japan had won the previous morning’s game against the United States,
A win for South Korea would tie the series at 3-1, and both teams were playing at the level of baseball powerhouses.
Korea’s problem has been poor starting pitching, and in this game, the starting pitcher mirrored his poor performance against the United States, giving up three early runs to Japan. The game ended in a similar fashion, with Korea’s bats starting to come alive as reliever Lee Sang-soo pitched better than expected and shut down the Japanese bats.
Left fielder Song Young-tae hit a bullet over the right fielder’s head for a triple, and then the bats of Kim Kwon-se, Lee Yoon-hee, and Kim Sun-do exploded to cut the deficit to 3-5. Japan scored one more run to make it 6-3 in a tightly contested 6-6 game. In their final at-bat, Korea got back-to-back walks to load the bases with two outs. Just when it looked like a long ball could tie the game, the final pitch was flied out to center field to end the game.
In the end, Japan won the tournament with four wins.
South Korea, the United States, and Chinese Taipei tied for second place with two wins and two losses each. Mexico followed with four losses. In terms of objective strength, Japan was the clear favorite, while South Korea and the United States were evenly matched.
The inaugural World Baseball Classic for the Deaf will be held every two years, with the next edition to be held in Japan in 2026. 온라인카지노사이트 Organized by Taipei City and sponsored by leading Taiwanese companies, the tournament provided a beautiful and precious opportunity for deaf players to enjoy the camaraderie and friendship that is the catchphrase of the tournament.
The week was unforgettable for Deaf baseball players from the Americas and Asia. The time they spent together, communicating in their own language, sign language, competing in baseball, and building friendships will remain in their memories for a lifetime.