I'm sorry, and I'm so sorry! Director Il's sudden resignation from the 'right before' aboard a chartered plane, he said, "I will take responsibility for the results"

*This content was translated by AI.

Hirokazu Ibata (51) of the Japanese national baseball team, who suffered an unprecedented "WBC (World Baseball Classic) quarterfinal elimination", will eventually give up the baton.

The Japanese baseball team, led by head coach Ibata, lost to Venezuela 5-8 in the 2026 WBC quarterfinals at Rondipo Park in Miami, Florida on the 15th (Korea time). Japan, which made it 0-1 to 1-1, went 5-2 but fell to their knees, allowing a comeback.

With this loss, Japan failed to win the tournament for the second consecutive time and ended the tournament with a quarterfinal performance with the Korean national baseball team. And since its establishment at the WBC in 2006, it has been humiliated by not reaching the semifinals for the first time in its history. It ended the tournament with the lowest record ever.

And a day after the defeat, he officially announced his intention to resign to local reporters ahead of boarding a chartered plane returning to Japan late at night on the 15th. According to multiple Japanese media such as Nikkan Sports and Daily Sports, Ibata, who came out of the accommodation, said with a mournful look on his face, "The result is everything. We have to take responsibility for the results," he said, expressing his intention to step down as coach after this tournament.

In this tournament, Japan sought to win its second consecutive tournament and four career championships, but failed to overcome Venezuela's firepower. The upset loss, which allowed three home runs, shocked the Japanese archipelago. It was packed earlier than the semifinal elimination (semi-finals) in 2013 and 2017, which were the previous WBC's worst performances.

Coach Ibata also greeted the reporters at the official press conference held immediately after the defeat, looking stunned and bowing, saying, "We have reduced the difficulty of forming a short-term team." He seems to have made a decision in front of the report card that he was eliminated earlier than expected, indicating that he would step down according to the results of this competition (WBC).

Coach Ibata took the helm of 2023 WBC's winning head coach Hideki Kuriyama (650). It was expected to win the Asian Professional Baseball Championship (APBC) in 2023, but after losing to Taiwan in the Premier 12 in 2024, he left bitterly after being disgraced as being eliminated from the WBC quarterfinals.

The sudden resignation of the head turned on the emergency lights in the Japanese baseball community. The Japanese Baseball Organization (NPB) will list multiple candidates and start hiring them, but it is predicted that the impact left by manager Ibata will be so great that it will not be easy to find a replacement. Public opinion is also gaining strength that he should choose a proven coach, not one his career as a player depends on.

Attention is focusing on whether Japanese baseball, which used to be the world's strongest, will fall into a deep dark period with the end of the Ibata system or take a new change.

<© STARNEWS. All rights reserved. No reproduction or redistribution allowed.>

*This content was translated by AI.