24 main characters who will board the baseball team for the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games led by coach Joong-il Ryu will be revealed.스포츠토토
The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) will hold a press conference to announce the final entry for the Asian Games in Hangzhou at 2:00 pm on the 9th. Head coach Ryu Joong-il, who took the baton of the national team, and Jo Gye-hyun, chairman of the National Power Reinforcement Committee, will attend and give a briefing on the entry.
There is no age limit for baseball in the Asian Games. However, starting from this tournament, KBO has established its own age limit system for the development of young players’ skills and the smooth generational change of the national team.
As a result, 21 out of 24 players in the national team must be selected as players under the age of 25 or in their 4th year as a pro. Only the remaining three are wild cards, and there are no restrictions on age or seniority.
Naturally, the number of new faces joining the national team is expected to increase.
Moon Dong-ju of the Hanwha Eagles and Park Young-hyun of the KT Wiz, who are showing off their skills while spending their second season as pros, are often mentioned as candidates for the Asian Games. NC Dinos Kim Joo-won, who is in his 3rd year as a professional, also took an active part in karate and took a snow stamp.
It is also of interest whether a new player who has just stepped into the KBO league can survive to the final roster.
Of the 198 preliminary entries announced by the KBO in April, 17 were rookies. KIA Tigers Yoon Yeong-cheol, LG Twins Park Myeong-geun, Lotte Giants Kim Min-seok, etc. have taken a solid place in the first team and are performing as well as their seniors. Kiwoom Heroes Kim Dong-heon was also recognized for his skills early enough to be included in the reserve list as the only rookie catcher.
At the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games, not a single new player was on board.
One of the battlegrounds is the national team’s home room without veteran catcher Yang Eui-ji (Doosan).
Yang Eui-ji wore the national team catcher mask every time there was an international competition after wearing the Taegeuk mark for the first time at the 2015 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier 12. Yang Eui-ji, who announced his retirement from the national team at the end of the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC), was also omitted from this preliminary entry.
The catcher position emphasizes experience more than any other position, but among the 19 players on the reserve list, it is difficult to find a unique player in this category. As such, the competition for boarding can be fiercer.
It is also noteworthy whether Lotte Park Se-woong and NC Dinos Koo Chang-mo, who succeeded in signing multi-year contracts despite not being in the military, will join the final roster.
Lotte and NC made a bold investment in multi-year contracts with Park Se-woong and Koo Chang-mo, whose military service was not resolved ahead of this season. They agreed to extend the contract period by the corresponding period if they enlist side by side in the military.
If they win a gold medal at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, they can solve military problems through military service exceptions. However, Gu Chang-mo left due to a left forearm flexor injury earlier this month, and his physical condition is expected to be the key.