Kwak Bin leads Korea to 5th consecutive victory with a good pitch in the 2026 Asian Games baseball finals

(Toyohashi [Japan] = Yonhap News) Reporter Lee Dae-ho and Kim Dong-han = The number one contributor to the five consecutive Asian Games gold medal feat was Kwak Bin (27, Doosan Bears), the best ace pitcher in the current KBO League and the national team's first starter.

Kwak Bin struck out 9 in 6⅓ innings against Japan in the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games baseball finals held at Toyohashi Citizen's Stadium in Aichi Prefecture, Japan on the 27th, allowing only 4 hits and 2 walks, allowing 1 run.

He opened the way for Korea's 5th consecutive victory in the first match of the group stage against Taiwan on the 21st.

Using a fastball with a top speed of 157 km/h, he led the team to a 5-0 victory by going 6 innings without allowing any runs.

On this day, he made free use of a fastball approaching 155 km, and demonstrated his ability to strike out in times of crisis, completing an unprecedented 5th consecutive victory.

The number of balls thrown was 111, only 2 short of the most thrown in the KBO League this season, 113 (game against Samsung Lions on July 26).

Kwak Bin, who was in danger of scoring in the bottom of the first inning with two outs and two on second base, set the tone by striking out three batters in a row in the bottom of the second inning, leading 1-0.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, leadoff hitter Shohei Mizutani hit a double to the left of left field, but escaped the crisis by hitting three batters in a row again.

However, in the bottom of the 7th inning, when the number of balls was close to 100, they ended up giving up 1 point.

He was hit by Mizutani with one out and runners on first base, and then allowed a timely hit to left by Yuki Sato with one out and runners on first and second base.

When the score was tied 1-1, Kwak Bin eventually passed the ball to Byeong-Hyeon Cho (SSG Landers) and came down from the mound.

After completing his duties, Kwak Bin came down, took off his hat and brushed his hair back with a regretful expression.

After scoring two runs in the 'promised 8th inning', Korea won 3-1, completing their 5th consecutive loss.

As Korea ended the tournament with its fifth consecutive loss, Kwak Bin also finally let go of his regrets from three years ago at the 2022 Hangzhou Games.

At that time, Kwak Bin developed symptoms of back pain ahead of the first game of the group stage and was unable to stand on the mound.

Even though Korea won and received the gold medal, the regret of not being able to throw the ball directly remained.

However, this season, Kwak Bin has established himself as the undisputed ace pitcher of the KBO League.

With 11 wins and 7 losses, an ERA of 2.26, and 186 strikeouts in 26 games, he leads the team in ERA and strikeouts.

Due to his performance, national team coach Ryu Ji-hyun selected him as a wild card and assigned him to play against Taiwan and the final between Korea and Japan.

Kwak Bin, who could not pitch in Hangzhou, started as a starter in the two most important games three years later.

On the mound that he supported, Korea won the gold medal again, and Kwak Bin proved why he is currently the national team's number one starter.