Korean Jobs" Hanwha's new head coach candidate revealed! Korean media reports that Asian Games gold medal coach is scheduled to take over in three years

Wang Yancheng's Hanhua Eagles just announced today that head coach Jin Qingwen and team leader Sun Hyuk have left the team after their contracts have expired. Korean media immediately revealed the candidate for the new coach. Current South Korean national team head coach Ryu Ji-hyun has been approved by the team. The two sides are close to signing a contract with a maximum value of 2 billion won (approximately NT$48 million) for up to three years.

Korean media "The Gate" quoted people familiar with the baseball industry as saying that Hanwha began to search for the next head coach as early as the second half of the season after it was confirmed that it would miss the playoffs. In-house coaches and members of the national team coaching team were included in the evaluation. Ryu Ji-hyun, who has performed well in international competitions twice this year, became the most preferred candidate for the team's top management.

The 55-year-old Ryu Ji-hyun led South Korea to compete in the World Baseball Classic in March this year, defeating Australia 7:2 in the final group match, leading South Korea to the top eight for the first time in 17 years. In September, he led South Korea to defeat Japan 3:1 in the gold medal game at the Nagoya Asian Games, completing its fifth consecutive Asian Games title. The article pointed out that Ryu Ji-hyun has continuously delivered results in international competitions and won the favor of Hanwha's senior management. With the active recommendation of team insiders, he was finally approved by the team boss on the 6th of this month.

Ryu Ji-hyun played for the LG Twins during his 11-year career as a player. He won the Rookie of the Year title in 1994 and stayed in the LG system for a long time after his retirement. He served as a defenseman, running back, and chief coach, and served as the LG head coach from 2021 to 2022. If he officially takes over Hanwha, it will be the first time in his career that he has coached a team other than LG. It will also be his return to the position of head coach of the first KBO team after 4 years.

Hanwha entered the Korean competition last year with the second place in the regular season and won the runner-up. However, this year it fell to the ninth place. In the last game of the regular season today, although they scored 5 points in the bottom of the 9th game, they still lost to NC Dinosaurs 8:9. If Ryu Ji-hyun takes office successfully, he will become Hanwha's second consecutive coach with qualifications as the head coach of the South Korean national team after Kim Kyung-moon.