Japanese media pointed out the elimination of Korean baseball in the 2024 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier 12 group stage and recent sluggish international tournaments.

"Korea beat Australia 5-2 but was eliminated in the first round of the 2024 WBSC Premier 12 (Group B)," Japanese sports media Daily Sports reported on the 18th. "In Group B, Japan and Taiwan will advance to the Super Round (Fourth round)."메이저사이트

The Korean national baseball team, led by Ryu Joong-il, was formed in Group B of the 2024 WBSC Premier 12 along with Taiwan, Japan, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Australia. The Korean national baseball team participated in the event with the goal of advancing to the super round, in which the team ranking up to the second place in the group was awarded.  

However, South Korea suffered a "Taipei shock" after losing 3-6 in the first group match against Taiwan on the 13th. Ko Young-pyo (KT Wiz), who expected to play the role of the oldest member of the starting team, failed to overcome the aftermath of his collapse with five hits (two home runs), two walks, two strikeouts and six runs in two innings.

Taiwan's performance exceeded what Korea expected. Notably, the team had difficulty targeting the Taiwanese mound by throwing fastballs in the mid to late 140 kilometers. The team failed to narrow the gap due to Taiwan's strong pitching in the latter half of the game.

South Korea succeeded in turning the mood around by beating Cuba 8-4 on the 14th. The batting lineup, which scored six points in the second inning alone against Cuban ace Livan Moello (Softbank Hawks), who ranked No. 1 in ERA in the NPB Central League this year, shone. 

However, South Korea lost 3-6 to Japan, its "old enemy" on the 15th, further reducing its chances of advancing to the Super Round. After Hong Chang-ki's RBI timely hit in the top of the second inning, Park Dong-won's tiebreaking solo home run in the top of the fourth inning and pinch hitter Yoon Dong-hee's RBI double in the top of the fifth inning turned the game around, but he bowed his head amid bullpen turmoil in the second half of the game.

South Korea then beat the Dominican Republic 9-6 on the 16th and Australia 5-2 on the 18th to post 3 wins and 2 losses in the group stage, but only ranked third. The Premier 12 will be divided into two groups of six countries and play the group stage, with only the first and second place in each group advancing to the super round.

Even if Taiwan loses to Cuba on the 18th and records 3 wins and 2 losses in the group stage just like South Korea, South Korea cannot rise to second place according to the Premier 12 "winner-win" rule, which first determines the opponent's record between the two countries with the same winning rate.  

Korea has traditionally been a baseball powerhouse in the early days of the tournament, winning the first Premier 12 tournament in 2015 and the runner-up at the second tournament in 2019. However, the elimination of the group league at the third tournament has left a huge dent in Korea's pride.

Korea won the gold medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games and the runner-up prize at the Asian Professional Baseball Championship last year, and successfully rebounded in the international arena. Korea sought to advance to the Super Round at least at the Premier 12 by banking on its momentum, but the outcome was disastrous.

Analysts say that the weakening of the mound due to injuries such as Hangzhou Asian Games ace Moon Dong-ju (Hanwha Eagles), this year's KBO League's most winning king Won Tae-in (Samsung Lions), and South Korean starting pitcher Son Joo-young (LG Twins), who ranks second in ERA, has been hampered.

"Daily Sports" also seems surprised by the sluggishness of Korean baseball. Following the no-medal victory at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic), and the elimination of the 2023 World Baseball Classic group stage, Korea is going through a series of trials at major competitions where elite players will face off each other due to the failure to advance to the Premier 12 Super Round.

"Korea won the first Premier 12 championship and lost to Japan in the second tournament to finish second," Daily Sports said. "This is the first time in Premier 12 history that we have been eliminated in the first round."

"Korean baseball has been eliminated in the first round for three consecutive times in the WBC until 2013, 2017, and 2023," he said. "It missed the Tokyo Olympics medal and continues to slump in international competitions."