Kim Do-young and Ahn Hyun-min, the 2003 best friends, also paid attention to the U.S [2026 WBC]

*This content was translated by AI.

Best Friends, born in 2003, who also paid attention to the U.S. Major League Baseball (ML), will finally make their world debut.

The official Major League website MLB.com said on the 5th (Korea Standard Time), "We have to wake up early to see the Czech Republic and Korea face off, which are receiving a lot of attention from fans. Korea aims to pass the first round since losing to Japan in the 2009 tournament," he said, introducing the Korea-Czech match.

The Korean national team, led by head coach Ryu Ji-hyun (55), will start its long-awaited first match against the Czech Republic at 7 p.m. at Tokyo Dome, Japan. The starting pitcher is Soh Hyung-joon (25, KT Wiz), a former rookie of the year in 2020 that KBO can confidently put forward.

Ryu Ji-hyun's first task, which aims to advance to the quarterfinals, is to win the first match of the first round. The loss of the first game was cited as the main reason why the Korean national team failed in the first round for three consecutive tournaments since the 2013 tournament.

The 2013 tournament lost to the Netherlands 0–5, the 2017 tournament to Israel 1-2, and the 2023 tournament to Australia 7-8. Baseball analyzed that it was hit by teams that were considered weak teams and later twisted in the schedule and point calculation.

South Korea was in Group C along with the Czech Republic, Japan, Taiwan, and Australia. The Czech Republic is considered the weakest of these. In the K-baseball series held at Gocheok Dome in Seoul in November last year, he invited the Czech national team to win two consecutive games.

Never let your guard down. Terin Barbra, a utility player from the Baltimore Orioles who was not on the national team at the time, and Marek Hloop, a former member of the Japanese professional baseball (NPB), were newly added. The starting pitcher to face is Daniel Padisak of Oy6 Niigata Albirex, a Japanese independent league, who is familiar with Asian baseball.

MLB.com said, "The Czech Republic has long been known as an amateur team that is competitive against professional players. However, it is not necessarily the case anymore," he said, but added, "The Czech Republic has to deal with a formidable Korean lineup. San Francisco Giants outfielder Lee Jung-hoo is the captain. Detroit Tigers outfielder Jamai Jones, who has a Korean mother, and Houston Astros prospect Shay Whitcomb joined the team," he said.

At the same time, the last ones mentioned were Kim Do-young (23, KIA Tigers) and Ahn Hyun-min (23, KT Wiz). MLB.com introduced best friends of the same age born in 2003, saying, "Third baseman Kim Do-young and right fielder Ahn Hyun-min are young big guns who are likely to advance to the Major League."

Kim Do-young and Ahn Hyun-min are the big hitters who have been heating up the Korean KBO League recently. Kim Do-young, who joined KIA with the first round of the 2022 KBO Rookie Draft after graduating from Gwangju Dongseong High School, won the league MVP award by leading his team to the Korean Series with 38 home runs and 40 steals in 2024.

Ahn Hyun-min is a newcomer who has emerged like a comet while Kim Do-young slowed down due to injury last year. After graduating from Masan High School, he joined KT as 38th in the second round of the same year and wrote a cooking legend in his fourth year as a professional. In his first full-time appearance in 112 games last year, he also received the On-base King (0.448) and the Rookie of the Year award with 22 homers and 80 RBIs.

The two, who also formed Liberley as catcher (Ahn Hyun-min) and shortstop (Kim Do-young) in high school, became true best friends while preparing for this tournament. Since there were only two fielders born in 2003, coach Ryu Ji-hyun was so close that he was wary of them as a joke.

The two, who met with reporters during the national team training in Okinawa, Japan, expressed their affection for each other, saying, "[Kim] Do-young is not my style," and "I don't like (Ahn) Hyun-min the same Tetonam." Ahn Hyun-min said, "It's my first national team, and I'm dependent on (Kim) Do-young. "Doyoung and I are coming out one after another, so I hope we can do well together," he said with a big smile.

The preparation phase couldn't be better. Ahn Hyun-min drew two arches, including a grand slam, in five practice games in Okinawa, and also hit a big home run against the NPB Orix Buffaloes on the 3rd. The bat flip shown at this time also attracted the attention of baseball fans around the world by decorating the main social media account of WBC.

Kim Do-young also finished preheating the bat. Considering that it was the first real game in about six months after a hamstring injury, he hit a back-to-back home run in an Okinawa practice game even though he was the designated hitter. He came to Osaka and got more ready after hitting two hits (one home run) in three at-bats against the Hanshin Tigers on the 2nd and hitting the first three-run against the Orix on the 3rd.

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*This content was translated by AI.