Korea Struggles Early Against Taiwan... Manager Ryu Ji-hyun Points Out the Cause After the Match

The national baseball team, led by Manager Ryu Ji-hyun, took its first step toward winning five consecutive tournament titles by defeating Taiwan 5–0 in their Group B opening match at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

After struggling in the early innings against the opponent starting pitcher's unorthodox pitching motion, Korea secured the victory as its batting lineup came alive in the latter half of the game.

Manager Ryu Ji-hyun shared behind-the-scenes stories from the Taiwan match, ranging from the reason he directly appealed to the umpire during the game to his evaluations of Kwak Been, who recorded 6 innings and 10 strikeouts, and Kim Joo-won, who tallied 3 hits.

Sports Mug brings you the post-match official press conference.

Reported by Jeon Young-min | Produced and Edited by Jinhyeong Park | Filmed by Yang Doo-won | Produced by Sports News Department
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.