The Korean baseball team achieved gold medals for the fifth time in a row at the Asian Games.
The national baseball team, led by coach Ji-hyun Ryu, won 3-1 over Japan in the baseball finals of the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games held at Toyohashi Citizen Baseball Stadium in Aichi Prefecture, Japan on the 27th.
Korea scored 2 points in the top of the 8th inning when the score was 1-1 and won, reaffirming the 'promised 8th inning', the winning formula in international competitions.
Korea, which lost 0-5 in the first game of the Super Round against Japan two days ago, succeeded in avenging itself and won the gold medal it had aimed for.
The Korean baseball team stood at the top of the podium until this tournament, following Guangzhou in 2010, Incheon in 2014, Jakarta and Palembang in 2018, and Hangzhou in 2022.
On this day, Korea started Kwak Bin (Doosan Bears), who pitched scoreless pitching with no hits and 10 strikeouts in 6 innings against Taiwan on the 21st.
In response, Japan again sent left-arm Shin Higuchi, who held the Korean batting line to 4 hits, 4 strikeouts, and no runs in 7 innings in the first game of the Super Round on the 25th, on the mound.
Higuchi, who returned to the mound as a starter after two days, was unable to show the same performance he did that time, going only 3 innings, allowing 4 hits and 1 run.
Korea, which unfortunately missed the opportunity to runners on first and second base with one out and one out in the top of the first inning, opened the scoring in the top of the second inning when leadoff hitter Yoon Dong-hee (Lotte Giants) hit a double that hit the barbed wire at the top of the fence.
Soon after, Moon Hyun-bin (Hanwha Eagles) lightly touched Higuchi's ball and took the lead with a timely hit to left-center.
Even though the lead runner at second base appeared to be out when follow-up batter Kim Ji-chan (Samsung Lions) attempted a bunt, Korea had the luck of having the second base umpire rule it safe, so they continued to have the opportunity to reach first and second base with no outs. There will be no video review for this competition.
Cho Hyeong-woo (SSG Landers)'s bunt and Kim Joo-won (NC Dinos)'s intentional walk left the bases loaded with one out, but Park Jun-soon (Doosan) struck out and Kim Do-young (KIA Tigers) retired with a fly ball to left field.
Korea started the inning in the top of the third inning with no outs on first and second base, but the lead runner was caught on third base when Dong-hee Yoon bunted, and the follow-up batter could not get away either.
Korea failed to take advantage of numerous opportunities, such as 1 out and 1st base in the top of the 5th inning, 1st base with no outs in the top of the 6th, and bases loaded with 2 outs in the top of the 7th, and eventually ran into crisis when Kwak Bin, who was holding on alone on the mound, gave up a run in the bottom of the 7th.
Kwak Bin, who had allowed only one hit and no runs until the sixth inning, gave up a hit to leadoff hitter Ryosuke Aizawa in the bottom of the seventh, and after one out, consecutive hits to Shohei Mizutani and Yuki Sato allowed the score to be tied 1-1.
Kwak Bin, who pitched 111 pitches in the rain, left two runners on base and handed the mound over to Cho Byeong-hyun (SSG), who struck out the two subsequent batters and did not give up the comeback.
Korean baseball, which had been under a dark cloud for a while, took the lead again in this tournament by producing the '8th inning of promise'.
In the top of the 8th inning, leadoff hitter Ji-Chan Kim sprinted to second base on a short hit to left-center, and went to third base on Hyung-Woo Cho's sacrifice bunt.
Kim Ji-chan, who was running for home, was out when Jeong Jun-jae (SSG) grounded to third base with one out and runners on first and third base, which led to Kim Joo-won's walk, and it seemed like the game was out of action.
Here, Kim Do-young, who had been quiet in this tournament, called Kim Joo-won home with a third baseman's infield hit and was responsible for a valuable comeback RBI.
This was followed by a timely hit by Moon Bo-kyung (LG Twins), putting Korea ahead 3-1.
A crisis came in the bottom of the 8th inning. After one out, Byeong-Hyun Cho hit a leadoff hit from Manami Soeda, and Young-Hyun Park (KT Wiz), who took over the mound, allowed a hit to left to Motoki Mukoyama, sending runners to first and third base.
In danger of giving up a run, Park Young-hyun struck out Japan's fourth batter, Aizawa, and caught Yuki Yano with a fly ball to left field to end the inning.
Young-Hyun Park, who remained on the mound in the bottom of the 9th inning, allowed consecutive hits with two outs, but struck out pinch hitter Masato Shibasaki, confirming Korea's gold medal.
Korean starter Kwak Bin pitched 6 scoreless innings against Chinese Taipei on the 21st, and on this day, he played the role of a solid ace with 111 pitches, 4 hits, 2 walks, 9 strikeouts, and 1 run in 6⅓ innings.
Cho Byeong-hyun, who received the baton from Kwak Bin, took charge of the tailgate with 1 hit, 3 strikeouts and no runs in 1 inning, and Park Young-hyun pitched 1⅔ innings with 2 hits, 1 walk, 3 strikeouts and no runs.
In the batting lineup, Moon Hyun-bin showed good batting ability with 3 hits in 5 at-bats, 1 RBI, and Kim Do-young (2 hits in 5 at-bats, 1 RBI) and Moon Bo-kyung (2 hits in 3 at-bats, 2 walks, 1 RBI) also contributed to the victory.
In the bronze medal match held earlier, Taiwan defeated China 5-1 and won the bronze medal.
