Kang Baek-ho
Of South Korea hits a single with the bases loaded in the fifth inning during the baseball super round two
match between South Korea and China at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games at the Shaoxing Baseball and
Softball Sports Center 1 on Oct. 6, near Hangzhou, China.
National baseball team infielder Kang Baek-ho, 24, finally broke out of his slump in the second game of the Super Round against China.
Kang Baek-ho started in the sixth spot in the batting order in the second game of the Hangzhou 2022
Asian Games Baseball Super Round against China at the Shaoxing Baseball and Softball Sports Center 1
on Saturday, going 3-for-4 with one home run, one RBI and one walk to help his team win 8-1.
After going hitless in 10 consecutive at-bats in the first three games, Kang repaid manager Ryu Jung-il’s
faith in him by getting on base whenever he needed to, including the first home run of his international career.
Kang’s performance has raised South Korea’s hopes for a gold medal. The final against Chinese Taipei on
Sunday at 7 p.m. is expected to be a close game of one or two runs, and a single hit from the punchy Kang could easily break the game open.
After the game, Kang Baek-ho told reporters;
“I wasn’t feeling well at the beginning of the tournament, but I’m grateful that the other players had good
results and took the pressure off me. I’m more satisfied with my contribution to the team’s victory than
with my first home run for the national team.”
Kang Baek-ho has been at the center of controversy throughout his career. At the Tokyo 2020 Olympics,
he was involved in the “chewing gum scandal,” and at the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC), he was
thrown out of the game after stepping off the base during a ceremony after hitting a double. The
accumulation of these incidents led to a lot of criticism.
“I always go into international tournaments with a lot of pressure because I’ve had a lot of bad
performances in the past,” said Kang, “but this time I worked especially hard to make up for it. We only
have one game left, and I want to do my best regardless of the result.”
“Taiwan’s pitching is good, but our players’ skills and atmosphere are also good. The pitching staff is
strong, so the batters need to score first in the first and second innings to make it easy for us,” he said.
He added,
“In international tournaments, it’s more about the mood and responsibility each day rather than your
usual form. Now that we’ve won today, we’ll go into the final in good spirits and try to get a good result.” 스포츠토토맨
