"Oldest to Make KS Debut Confirmed" Woo Kyu-min: "I Want to Win Three More Times"

[Anchor]

The tears shed by 41-year-old veteran pitcher Woo Kyu-min, who tasted regular season victory for the first time as KT secured the regular season title yesterday (October 5), are drawing a lot of attention. Woo Kyu-min, who is set to play in the Korean Series as the oldest player ever to make their debut in the championship series, also shared his ambition, saying, "I want to lead KT to three more championships."

Reporter Yu Byeongmin has the story.

[Reporter]

The emotional thrill of the regular season championship and advancing to the Korean Series, which Woo Kyu-min experienced yesterday 24 years after his professional debut, lingered even today, a day later.

[Woo Kyu-min / Pitcher, KT: My entire baseball career flashed before my eyes. I think my emotions welled up so much that I really couldn't hide them.]

Woo Kyu-min debuted with LG in 2003 and endured the team's dark days firsthand. In 2021 during his time with Samsung, he lost to KT in the league's first-ever tiebreaker game for first place, spending 24 years of his professional career without ever connecting with a championship.

At 41 years old this year, Woo Kyu-min has set a new record for the oldest Korean Series debut in history, surpassing Choo Shin-soo's record set at age 40 in 2022.

[Woo Kyu-min / Pitcher, KT: The younger players told me, 'We will definitely make sure Kyu-min gets to wear a championship ring this year,' but since I've been fooled for 23 years, receiving such a great gift from the juniors makes me feel so happy.]

Having relished the joy with a sweet champagne shower, Woo Kyu-min now dreams of winning the Korean Series.

[Woo Kyu-min / Pitcher, KT: If I had retired without ever wearing a championship ring or even making it to the Korean Series once, I feel like the meaning of my baseball career would have vanished. I want to take better care of my body and help KT until they achieve back-to-back and three-peat championships.]

(Video by Seol Chi-hwan, Video Editing by Park Jung-sam)

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