Ace Kwak Bin to Start... Must Defeat Taiwan

[Anchor]

The national baseball team, aiming for its fifth consecutive tournament title, will play its opening group-stage match against Taiwan today (the 21st). Ace pitcher Kwak Bin is set to take the mound as the starter to secure an early advantage.

Reporter Yu Byeongmin is on-site.

[Reporter]

As expected, our national team's starting pitcher for the opening match against Taiwan is ace Kwak Bin.

Having secured 11 wins this year while leading the league in ERA and strikeouts to establish himself as the league's top ace, today's game is an opportunity for Kwak Bin to restore his honor.

Although he wore the gold medal around his neck at the last Asian Games in Hangzhou, he is determined to shake off the disappointment of not being able to pitch a single game due to back spasms.

[Kwak Bin / National Baseball Team Pitcher : Naturally, I think Taiwan is the team to watch out for. I'll pitch with the same confidence as how things are going well this season to produce a good result.]

In a twist, Taiwan will start 20-year-old amateur right-hander Lin Yi-wei, who plays in the industrial league.

While Wang Yen-cheng was initially considered the likely starter, manager Tang Teng-kai announced after the official training session that there was a matter discussed between Hanwha and Taiwan, leading to the selection of Lin Yi-wei instead of Wang Yen-cheng.

Due to sloppy tournament organization, the national team was only able to hold its first training session yesterday, just a day before the opening match, at the Okazaki Stadium battlefield, thoroughly checking the condition of the field.

When the batters cleared the distant outfield walls of Okazaki Stadium, which is similar in size to Jamsil Baseball Stadium, several times, Manager Ryu Ji-hyun wore a satisfied smile.

However, Typhoon Dujuan, the 25th typhoon, has moved further northwest than the Nagoya region, thankfully reducing the chance of rain today. Still, as it remains within the typhoon's sphere of influence, wind direction and intensity could be variables.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
(Video reporting: Yang Du-won | Video editing: Lee Jae-sung)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.