"Happy to be with KT fans!" Fans from Europe, Asia, and Africa also fell head over heels for Wiz Park! Successful start of the KT-Suwon City joint baseball tour

*This content was translated by AI.

Professional baseball team KT Wiz announced a successful start to its baseball tour project by turning tourists from around the world into baseball fans through a special program linked with its home city, Suwon Special City.

On the 31st, KT defeated Hanwha Eagles 5-3 in a regular-season home game of the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League held at Suwon KT Wiz Park.

KT displayed well-coordinated performance on both offense and defense. Starting pitcher So Hyoung-jun held strong for five innings, allowing seven hits (one home run), issuing two walks, recording two strikeouts, and giving up three earned runs. Jo Won (one inning), Lee Sang-dong (one-third inning), Jeon Yong-ju (two-thirds inning), and Kohei Sugimoto (one inning) pitched scoreless relief.

Closer Park Young-hyun finished the ninth inning without allowing a run, achieving 20 saves for the third consecutive year. With both teams recording ten hits each, KT overpowered Hanwha thanks to Sam Hilleyard's agile base running and timely hits, extending their winning streak to four games.

A full house of 18,700 spectators attended the game, including special guests. In celebration of the "Year of Visiting Suwon" for 2026–2027, KT is actively promoting sports tourism content. To convert the growing number of foreign tourists into KBO League fans, the club is collaborating with Suwon City on a project that integrates professional baseball into Suwon's representative tourist routes.

Foreign tourists experience stadium food and KBO League cheering culture by first visiting Suwon's Hwaseong Fortress for traditional snacks and archery experiences, then watching a KT home game. Notably, twenty foreign tourists from various nationalities including Europe, Asia, and Africa attended the Hanwha game that day, directly experiencing unique Korean professional baseball cheering customs such as group singing of team anthems and participation in inning events.

Coincidentally, the Water Festival, first introduced to professional baseball by KT in 2015, was held in collaboration with the popular manga One Piece, drawing explosive popularity. With water cannons spraying down and the fervor of baseball, foreign tourists reportedly got completely immersed. Singaporean tourist Shu En-ho Shi shared, "This is my first visit to Suwon. It was fun to directly experience South Korea's traditions and history."

Wiz Park itself proved equally captivating. Shu En-ho Shi smiled, saying, "It's so happy and special to come to the baseball stadium in the evening and play together with Suwon KT Wiz fans. Sharing the joy of loving baseball together is delightful, and if given the chance, I definitely want to visit Suwon again."

KT stated, "Going forward, we plan to introduce KT Wiz through approximately ten more home city tourist baseball tour programs to foster new fanbases. Additionally, during the off-season, we are also considering tours for KT Sonicboom basketball games beyond just baseball," outlining future plans.

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*This content was translated by AI.