"I love you" Korea" The oldest member of KT, who is strong, also got emotional 'finish it' and 2020 Tokyo → 2023 WBC → again, the pain of losing the match between Korea and Japan 'Korea-Japan match with younger brothers.''

*This content was translated by AI.

Ko Young-pyo (35), the eldest brother of four KT Wiz players who participated in the Korean national baseball team, couldn't hide his emotional feeling at the end.

Ko Young-pyo said on his SNS on the 9th, "I love you South Korea," and expressed his feelings about advancing to the second round (the quarterfinals) of the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) finals.

Earlier, the South Korean national team, led by head coach Ryu Ji-hyun (55), beat Australia 7-2 in the final Group C match of the first round of the 2026 WBC finals at Tokyo Dome in Japan and confirmed its advance to the quarterfinals for the first time in 17 years as the second place in the group.

It was a touching moment not only for the national team but also for Ko Young-pyo, the "national team." Although Ko Young-pyo is a gradually decreasing side-arm pitcher, he first won the national flag at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with his steady performance.

Ko Young-pyo had many twists and turns in the national team. The 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which was the first competition, started against tricky teams such as the United States and Japan. In the semi-finals against Japan, even though he pitched five innings of two runs, his team lost and failed to win a medal in the end, failing to laugh.

The 2023 WBC, the second tournament, was also a series of disappointments. He took the mound against Australia and the Czech Republic and scored a total of three runs in five innings, but failed to win due to the bullpen's arson. In the 2024 Premier 12 as well, they fought hard against Taiwan and Australia, but failed to advance to the finals.

In that sense, this competition, which was participated with KT's younger brothers, was also meaningful to Ko Young-pyo. Soh Hyung-joon (25), Park Young-hyun (23), and Ahn Hyun-min (23) are leading candidates to protect the four gates of Hwaseong, the pride of Suwon, together with him, who claims to be the guardian of Jangan Gate.

Ko Young-pyo was also in charge of dealing with Japan, which is considered the strongest lineup ever. Although he retired with four runs in two ⅔ innings with three homers, he struck out four against top hitters in the Japanese Professional Baseball (NPB). Nevertheless, Korea lost again due to fire in the bullpen.

KT's younger brothers soothed the regret of their eldest brother, who never won a regular game with the national flag. South Korea had to win Australia by five points on the day due to strict WBC first-round ranking rules. KBO's youngest team KT players also played a strong role in clearing the difficult mission.

It started with Ahn Hyun-min, "KT Wiz + Gorilla." Ahn Hyun-min, who was in charge of the fourth batter and right fielder, hit a left-handed hit from his first at-bat in the second inning. Moon Bo-kyung's two-run shot over the right middle wall was the first to hit home. Ahn Hyun-min, who took a break with one strikeout in the third inning, showed his true value in the fifth inning. Even though he was a catcher since Masan High School, he had excellent pioneering eyes and fast feet, and calmly picked four balls in the fifth inning with two outs and reached base.

He didn't stop there, but stole second base and created a scoring situation at once. Here, troubleshooter Moon Bo-kyung once again called him home, and South Korea gradually approached the winning requirements.

On the mound, Soh Hyung-joon and Park Young-hyun cheered up. In the bullpen day, which was activated due to the sudden injury of starter Son Joo-young, Soh Hyung-joon came up in the bottom of the fourth inning and played with one hit (one homer) and two strikeouts and one run in two innings. He played the most innings with the most pitches, keeping South Korea's close lead.

Park Young-hyun, who took the mound soon after, was cool. Despite facing Australia's top lineup in the sixth inning, he struck out his first batter swinging. He hit a follow-up hitter to get one out and one base, but he erased the inning by drawing a double play in five pitches.

Ahn Hyun-min made the opportunity created by his brother and his colleague. Ahn Hyun-min sent the first pitch deep into the right-center outfield in the top of the ninth inning when South Korea needed just one more point with a 6-2 lead. It was a moment when the eldest brother's long-cherished dream of never stepping on the U.S. soil at an international competition was also unraveled.

After the game, the four members of KT National University regrouped on the ground. Ko Young-pyo, who overcame the pain of his last defeat with his younger brothers, looked very bright. Soh Hyung-joon and Ahn Hyun-min also enjoyed the joy by sharing pictures taken with KT colleagues on their SNS.

Meanwhile, South Korea will head to Miami, the U.S., where the second round will be held as the second place in Group C after Japan, which won all three games. The last time Korea advanced to the second round of the WBC was in 2009 when it tasted the honor of being the runner-up. On the first quarter-final stage in 17 years, South Korea will play an inevitable single-round match against the Dominican Republic or Venezuela, which is likely to rank first in Group D, at 7:30 a.m. on the 13th (Korea Standard Time).

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*This content was translated by AI.