[Anchor]

The national baseball team secured a resounding victory in their opening match against Taiwan, making a promising start in their pursuit of a fifth consecutive gold medal at the tournament. Ace pitcher Kwak Been put on a dazzling pitching performance, not allowing a single hit through six innings, while the relief pitchers who followed tightly locked down the back door, not conceding a single run.

Reporter Lee Seonghun has the details.

[Reporter]

As if venting the frustration of not being able to pitch a single game due to neck spasms at the previous Hangzhou Asian Games and taking home a gold medal somewhat awkwardly, Kwak Been delivered a brilliant pitching performance worthy of the KBO League's top ace this season.

Freely wielding a blistering fastball topping out at 157 km/h alongside four different breaking pitches, he mowed down the Taiwanese lineup without allowing a single hit and striking out 10 batters through six innings to keep them scoreless.

The national team's offense took the lead in the second inning with Park Jae-hyun's sacrifice fly, added two runs in the seventh with Park Jun-soon's RBI double and Cho Hyung-woo's sacrifice fly, and then sealed the victory in the eighth with Roh Si-hwan's sacrifice fly and pinch hitter Yoon Dong-hee's magnificent solo home run over the left-field wall.

The only regret of the night came when Cho Byeong-hyun pitched two perfect innings starting from the seventh to maintain a team no-hitter, only for closer Park Young-hyun to give up the team's first hit with one out in the ninth, breaking up the milestone record.

Decorating their opening match with a 5-0 team shutout victory, the national team made a refreshing start toward their fifth straight championship.

[Kwak Been / National Baseball Team: Since this is just the first step and the first button to button, I will do my best to pitch even better in the finals and prepare for it.]

The national team will play their second match against Hong Kong tomorrow (September 22).

(Video by Yang Doo-won | Video Editing by Park Gi-deok)