The South Korea Under-18 Baseball5 National Team (head coach Cha Myung-joo), competing in the 2023 WBSC Youth Baseball World Cup, finished the preliminary round with a 1-4 record after a disappointing performance.
The 2023 WBSC Youth Baseball5 World Cup, which has been taking place in Ankara, Turkey, since October 10, will feature 12 nations that have qualified through continental qualifiers in Group A and Group B, followed by a super round robin between the top teams to determine the winner. The Korean national team, led by Cha Myung-joo, was placed in Group B and played Australia, France, Mexico, Ghana, and Chinese Taipei in the preliminary round.
In their first match against Australia on the 10th, the Koreans conceded an early lead due to the nerves of making their first international appearance, but they recovered to win the first set 11:6 and the second set 7:0 to record their first win of the tournament. In their second match against Mexico on the same day, the Koreans were unable to continue the momentum of their first win. After losing the first set 2:4 due to poor defensive play, the team easily lost the second set 1:11.
Against France, who led the group with three wins on the 11th, the team lost the first set 2:4 after taking the lead, but the team’s cohesion in the second set balanced the set at 5:4. However, the team lost focus in the third set and dropped the set 0:6, which put them in danger of being eliminated from the Super Round.
In the first match of the day, a must-win, Korea met Chinese Taipei, who won the Asia Cup in February this year. After scoring the first two points in the first inning of the first set, the Korean National Team put up an ironclad defense and took the first set 2:1. It was the first set in four matches against Chinese Taipei, including the senior national team.메이저놀이터
However, the team repeated defensive mistakes in the second set and lost 0:7, and in the third set, they took the lead and were on the verge of victory, but lost 3:4 due to last-minute mistakes. After dropping the final match of the preliminary round against Ghana 0:2, the team finished fifth in Group B with 1 win and 4 losses, failing to qualify for the Super Round, which is awarded to the top three finishers in each group.
The team will now face fourth-ranked Tunisia, fifth-ranked Zambia and sixth-ranked Malaysia in Pool A on March 13 and 14.
Meanwhile, the 2023 WBSC Youth Baseball5 World Cup will be decided by a final between the first- and second-place teams based on the combined results of the Super Round and qualifiers.