South Korean baseball's "once again" fateful Korea-Japan final confirmed! Can they avenge their loss and achieve the long-awaited 'AG 5-peat'... China crushed 9-2 [Aichi Nagoya AG]

*This content was translated by AI.

The South Korean national baseball team comfortably defeated the Chinese national team to secure a spot in the final. Now, only one fateful match remains: the Korea-Japan showdown.

Led by manager Ryu Ji-hyun, the South Korean national team secured a 9-2 victory over China in the second Super Round match of the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games held at Toyohashi Citizens Stadium in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, on the 26th.

With this win, South Korea finished the Super Round with two wins and one loss, placing second to advance to the final. On the 27th at 6:30 p.m., they will face Japan (who have three Super Round wins) in another fateful showdown at the same venue. Earlier, South Korea suffered a decisive 0-5 defeat against Japan in the first Super Round match. This presents a golden opportunity for revenge. If South Korea defeats Japan and claims the championship, they will achieve the historic feat of winning five consecutive Asian Games titles.

For this game, South Korea set its starting lineup as follows: Kim Ju-won (shortstop), Moon Hyun-bin (left fielder), Kim Do-young (designated hitter), Moon Bo-kyung (first baseman), Noh Si-hwan (third baseman), Yoon Dong-hee (right fielder), Park Jun-soon (second baseman), Kim Ji-chan (center fielder), and Jo Hyung-woo (catcher). Starting pitcher was Choi Min-seok.

In response, China set its starting lineup as follows: Zhou Yi (right fielder), Wang Lei (second baseman), Han Xiao (center fielder), Lan Tianchen (designated hitter), Chao Jie (first baseman), Fu Yuanlong (left fielder), Li Xiaoyang (third baseman), Jing Hui (catcher), and Li Yanyan (shortstop). Starting pitcher was Wu Anjun.

China scored first. In the top of the first inning with one out, Wang Lei reached base with a double down the left-field line. After two outs, Lan Tianchen hit an RBI single to left-center field.

After conceding the run, South Korea immediately counterattacked in the bottom of the first. With one out, Moon Hyun-bin drew a walk. Kim Do-young then hit a ground ball to the shortstop that resulted in a potential double play, but the opposing shortstop failed to make the throw to first base. During this sequence, Moon Hyun-bin advanced to third base and Kim Do-young reached second base. Next, when the first baseman fielded a ground ball from Moon Bo-kyung and threw to the pitcher, an error occurred, resulting in a safe call. Meanwhile, both Moon Hyun-bin from third base and Kim Do-young from second base scored. South Korea took a 2-1 lead.

South Korea added two more runs in the bottom of the second inning. Leadoff batter Park Jun-soon hit an infield single that deflected toward the shortstop. He then advanced to third base on a wild pitch and scored when Kim Ji-chan hit an RBI double down the left-center gap. Later, Jo Hyung-woo bunted in front of the pitcher, allowing Kim Ji-chan to reach third base. When Kim Ju-won hit a ground ball in front of the pitcher, Kim Ji-chan crossed home plate. The score became 4-1.

South Korea added two more runs each in the sixth and seventh innings. In the bottom of the sixth with one out and runners on first and third, Kim Ju-won hit an RBI single to right field. Moon Hyun-bin then hit a double down the left-center gap, loading the bases. When Kim Do-young was hit by a pitch, Jo Hyung-woo scored from third base.

In the bottom of the seventh, leadoff batter Yoon Dong-hee drew a walk. Park Jun-soon then hit an RBI triple over the right-field fence. With one out, Jo Hyung-woo hit an RBI single to center field, extending the lead to 8-1.

In the bottom of the eighth, Kim Do-young finally broke through with his bat. As leadoff batter, he reached base with a double over the center-field fence. While Moon Bo-kyung followed with an RBI double that struck the left-center field wall, Kim Do-young scored, pushing the lead to 9-1. China managed to score one run against reliever Kim Young-woo in the top of the ninth inning but could not add any more runs.

South Korean starter Choi Min-seok earned the win with seven innings (96 pitches), allowing six hits and one walk while striking out nine batters, giving up only one earned run. He was followed by Oh Won-seok (one inning), Kim Young-woo (two-thirds of an inning), and Sung Young-tak (one-third of an inning). In the batting lineup that produced 14 total hits, Park Jun-soon recorded three hits, while Kim Ju-won, Noh Si-hwan, Kim Ji-chan, and Jo Hyung-woo each contributed with multi-hit performances.

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*This content was translated by AI.