S. Korea defends gold in baseball

Members of South Korea's national baseball team toss their head coach, Ryu Joong-il, in the air to celebrate their 6-3 victory over Chinese Taipei in the final at the Munhak Stadium in Incheon, Sunday. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

By Baek Byung-yeul

INCHEON ― The South Korean baseball team defended its Asian Games title after defeating Chinese Taipei 6-3 on a rainy Sunday night.

But the final road to the gold was disappointing, as the Koreans struggled throughout the match, even though they had routed their opponents in the group stage match, which ended with the application of the "mercy rule" in the eighth inning.

Almost 30,000 baseball fans at the Munhak Baseball Stadium in Incheon had to watch the Koreans fail to score until the fourth inning.

South Korea, arguably one of the world's baseball powerhouses, invested all it had in the Asiad gold. In contrast, the Chinese Taipei team consisted largely of amateur players.

To motivate the Koreans, the government had promised that players would be exempt from mandatory military service if they won gold.

In a surprise departure from the previous group match, Chinese Taipei ― the name under which Taiwan competes in international sports competitions ― earned three runs against South Korea's southpaw starting pitcher Kim Kwang-hyun, who is regarded as one of the best in the Korea Baseball Organization.

Kim allowed a triple to the first batter, Chen Pin Chieh. The second batter, Lin Han, grounded out but brought Chen home. Kim left the mound after allowing two runs in the sixth inning.

Meanwhile, Chinese Taipei's 18-year-old right-handed starter Kuo Chun Lin dominated the Korean hitters, who failed to score a run until the fourth.

In the fifth inning, Korea managed to turn the game around, scoring two runs with two hits combined with a throwing error, but Chinese Taipei took the lead back in the sixth inning, earning two runs.

South Korea's victory was sealed at the top of the eighth inning.

Center-fielder Min Byung-hun led off the inning with a single. After one out, left-fielder Kim Hyun-soo brought Min home with a single to make the game even, after which third baseman Hwang Jae-kyun knocked in two more runs with a single.

In the ninth inning, South Korea's closer, Bong Jung-keun, secured a win after taking two outs, replacing Lim Chang-yong.

South Korea has won four golds since baseball became an official sport in the Asiad Games.

Before the finals, Japan claimed bronze after defeating China 10-0. The game ended after the seventh inning under the mercy rule.

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