South Korea won its fourth consecutive gold medal at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games with a 2-0 victory over Chinese Taipei in the gold medal game on Sunday at the Xiaoxing Baseball and Softball Center 1 Baseball Field in Xiaoxing, Zhejiang Province, China.
They hadn’t been knocked off the top spot since the 2006 Doha disaster and the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games. For the time being, no other country in the history of the Asian Games will be able to match Korea’s record. Since the Asian Games began in 1994, South Korea has won six gold medals in baseball. Japan (Hiroshima 1994, no professional players) and Chinese Taipei (Doha 2006) are next with one each.
The final pitcher to seal the gold medal for South Korea was Go Woo-seok. He struck out the first batter he faced and then gave up back-to-back hits before getting Japanese professional baseball player Wu Yenting to ground out to second base. He was at a disadvantage when the umpire didn’t call a low ball, but he was able to save the day and win the gold medal.
During the medal ceremony, Go burst into tears. “I was in tears because I had a lot of complicated thoughts,” he told reporters before heading back to his hotel. Ko was criticized for his defensive mistakes at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and his sudden bout with bile at the WBC in March this year. He was also criticized for conceding two goals against Chinese Taipei in the group stage on the second day. This made the gold medal even more meaningful to him.
“First of all, I want to thank coach Ryu Jung-il, thank you for trusting me. It could have been a difficult decision (to let him save again), so I’m grateful. I also felt sorry for my former coaches, Kim Kyung-moon (Tokyo Olympics) and Lee Kang-cheol (WBC). I remembered a lot of hard work from the seniors and players I worked with, and although it may not be repaid with today’s result, I tried to keep growing since then. This time, I think the players in front of me did a good job, so I just put up a spoon.”
Even earlier in the season, he apologized for his lack of international competition. He didn’t make his first appearance of the season until April 18. After suffering from a sore throat in a practice game ahead of the WBC in March, he was diagnosed with supraspinatus muscle inflammation in his right shoulder after a medical examination upon his return. After his first pitch for the first team, he met with the press and had a completely different expression than usual. 카지노사이트가이드
“I tried to do something…I tried hard, but my arm didn’t work, so…” he stuttered as he recalled the WBC. “I worked hard to prepare, but it’s a shame that I couldn’t do it. I still feel regretful. I’ m also cautious about giving interviews.” He said, “I can go out there and throw badly or I can throw well. I never thought it was hard, but I didn’t even try. That’s why I’m always on the lookout for injuries, and it’s not every year that there’s a tournament like this, and I don’t know when I’ll be able to wear the mark again.”
His next opportunity came soon after, and he was relieved. On the 7th, he said, “I was so sorry to the previous coach, and I remembered the things I did with the players, so I thanked him and apologized. The seniors all contacted me at that time, and I think I got more emotional after seeing that. I thought, “You’ve been watching me,” and I realized that I need to keep growing.
Meanwhile, Ko Woo-seok’s wife, Lee Ga-hyun, the daughter of LG coach Lee Jong-beom and sister of Ki Ung Lee, announced the birth of their child on social media after the gold medal match on July 7. It was a happy ending to the Asian Games for Ko Woo-seok, who received two pieces of good news in one day. The baseball team will return home at around 6 p.m. on Aug. 8 to resume their KBO schedule.