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| Samsung Lions' Lee Seung-yuop, right, celebrates with Bae Young-seop after hitting a double in the sixth inning of their team's Korea Baseball Organization League game against the SK Wyverns at Incheon SK Happy Dream Park, Sept. 1. / Yonhap |
By Baek Byung-yeul
With the 10-day Chuseok holiday starting next week, many sporting events are lined up.
The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) League will enter the last phase of the regular season during the holiday break.
With two to five games left until the end of the regular season, the first-place Kia Tigers and the second-place Doosan Bears are fiercely competing for the top spot in the standings. As of Thursday, there is only one game difference between them.
The eyes of baseball fans will be glued to a three-game series between the Tigers and the 10th-place KT Wiz at Suwon KT Wiz Park starting Oct. 1, as the series will decide which team advances to the final round of the playoffs.
The playoffs will begin on Oct. 8 after the fourth- and the fifth-place teams have a two-game wildcard round on Oct. 5.
Samsung Lions veteran slugger Lee Seung-yuop, who earned his famous nickname "Lion King" after hitting the most home runs in the 1997 season, will play his last KBO League game with the Nexen Heroes at his team's home park Daegu Samsung Lions Park, Oct. 3.
Debuting in 1995, the 40-year-old is the KBO's all-time home run king, hitting 465 home runs while playing solely for the Lions for 15 seasons. Since many major league stars have had their farewell tours in recent years, Lee also has been on his farewell tour since Aug. 10. His last away game will be against the LG Twins at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul, Oct. 1, where he made his first career hit, April 15, 1995.
Football
The Korean national men's football team will play a friendly against Russia in Moscow, Oct. 7. It remains to be seen whether newly appointed head coach Shin Tae-yong can restore the team's confidence. Though the Korean team succeeded in advancing to next year's FIFA World Cup for the nine consecutive and 10th overall FIFA World Cup tourneys, the team failed to display a satisfactory performance in its qualification matches.
Clubs of the K League Classic, Korea's top-flight professional football league, will play their 33rd matches during the holiday. The league is operating under a split system in which the 12 clubs are divided into two tiers after their first 33 matches. The sixth-place Gangwon FC and the seventh-place Pohang Steelers are competing for the sixth spot, the bottom rung of the upper group. While there is a four-point gap between the two teams, Gangwon FC will play the third-place Ulsan Hyundai FC, Sept. 30, and 11th-placed Incheon United, Oct. 8. The Steelers will have matches with the 10th-placed Sangju Sangmu FC, Oct. 1, and fourth-placed Suwon Samsung Bluewings, Oct. 8.
