▲ China's shortstop Li Yan'en
High school senior and junior who sweated together while dreaming the same dream have met again as opposing players at the Asian Games.
The protagonists are South Korea national baseball team's star hitter Kim Do-young (KIA Tigers) and China national team's infielder Li Yan'en (Korean name Lee Yeom-eun).
Li Yan'en, who nurtured his dream of becoming a baseball player from a young age, came to South Korea for "baseball study abroad" during elementary school, and later returned to South Korea during high school to play at Gwangju Dongsung High School.
Kim Do-young was Li Yan'en's baseball club senior by two years, and the two wore the same uniform and sweated together for a year.
Afterwards, the paths of the two players diverged.
While Kim Do-young grew into one of the best players in the KBO League after being drafted by the KIA, Li Yan'en returned to China without receiving a professional draft selection.
However, Li Yan'en did not let go of his dream of becoming a baseball player.
He trained steadily in China and finally stepped onto the Asian Games stage as a member of the Chinese national team.
The two players stood face to face in the same space wearing different national uniforms at the Asian Games.
Kim Do-young started as the third designated hitter in the second Super Round match against China held at Toyohashi Municipal Baseball Stadium in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, yesterday (September 26), recording 1 hit in 4 at-bats, 1 RBI, and 2 runs to lead a 9-2 victory.
Li Yan'en started as the ninth-hitter shortstop, failing to overcome the wall of the South Korean pitching staff and recording no hits in 4 at-bats.
Regardless of the team's victory or defeat and individual performances, this tournament and day's game were special to the two players.
After the game, Kim Do-young met with reporters in the mixed zone and said, "I got contacted not long ago. He told me that he was going to come to this tournament as a member of the Chinese national team," adding, "I didn't expect to meet him again like this at the stadium, so it felt amazing and I was glad to see him."
He continued, recalling, "When we were at school, Yeom-eun was famous for being fast on his feet. Also, he followed and liked me a lot because our play styles are similar. We did a lot of weight training together and got along closely. We were really close."
He also added, "The fact that a junior has come out to a major competition representing a country itself makes me proud. It looks like he has grown up well."
The fortunes of the two players crossed paths on this day.
Kim Do-young hit a grounder toward the shortstop in the bottom of the 1st inning with 1 out and a runner on 1st, and Li Yan'en committed an error failing to field it.
Meanwhile, Kim Do-young sprinted to second base, creating a scoring opportunity.
Kim Do-young even sprinted past third base all the way home on subsequent batter Moon Bo-gyeong's grounder to first base, turning the game around.
Reflecting on the situation, Kim Do-young said, "My batting sense hasn't been very good lately, so I wasn't of much help to the team. I wanted to help the team somehow by any means. That's why I ran without hesitation."
He then stated, "We will definitely win the final against Japan. After losing to Japan in the first Super Round match, I was really resentful. We will definitely get our revenge."
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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