‘Taegeukgi cheers from 3,000 fans at Tokyo Dome’ — even the use of amplifiers has been permitted! Five cheerleaders, including Park Gi-ryang and Lee Ye-eun, are set to make a full appearance... The 2026 APBC cheering squad is confirmed

*This content was translated by AI.View Original

Korean baseball’s signature chants and trumpet sounds will echo through Tokyo Dome in Japan. With the previously restricted use of amplifiers now permitted, a large-scale away cheering effort is set to unfold in support of the national team.

The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) officially announced on the 2nd that it has completed the composition of the South Korean cheering squad to be dispatched to the 2026 Asia Pro Baseball Championship (APBC), which will be held at Tokyo Dome in Japan from the 12th to the 15th.

The cheering squad is centered around squad leader Lee Yun-seung and consists of five cheerleaders active in the KBO League: Park Gi-ryang, Cha Young-hyun, Choi Hye-rin, Lee Ye-eun, and Shim Young-won. They will be joined by six trumpet players and a traditional drummer to showcase the unique cheering culture of Korean baseball.

The most significant change is the permission to use amplifiers. While the use of amplifiers for cheering had been restricted at Tokyo Dome in the past, KBO completed negotiations with the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) side, making their use possible for this tournament. As a result, the trumpet performances featured during last November’s Korea-Japan match and this March’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) will be accompanied by amplified cheering and drum beats.

The cheering section has also been expanded. The KBO will operate an official infield cheering section for all games involving the Korean national team. On a scale larger than that of last March’s WBC, approximately 3,000 seats will be allocated for the match against Japan, while approximately 5,000 seats will be provided for the remaining games.

This APBC is the first tournament to be held in three years since 2023. Four countries—South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and Australia—will participate, competing to showcase the skills of the next generation of national team players.

The APBC, first launched in 2017, was established to provide young players with international tournament experience and to discover national team candidates who will go on to perform in future WBCs and Olympics. Players who currently represent the KBO League, such as Lee Jung-hoo and Kim Ha-seong in 2017, and Kim Do-young, Gwak Bin, and Won Tae-in in 2023, grew through this tournament.

This year, Manager Choi Won-ho (53) will take the helm. Appointed to the vacant national team manager position following former Manager Ryu Ji-hyun’s move to the Hanwha Eagles, Manager Choi will lead promising players in preparation for the 2027 Premier12 and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

The national team began its intensive training camp at Daejeon Hanwha Life Ballpark on the 2nd. They will depart for Japan on the 9th, facing Australia on the 12th, Japan on the 13th, and Taiwan on the 14th in sequence. The top two teams from the preliminary round will compete in the final on the 15th, while the third- and fourth-place teams will play for third place on the same day.

The KBO is also recruiting fans to participate in an away cheering squad travel package. The package includes tickets for key sections in front of the cheering platform, and all participants will receive commemorative ‘KBO X MU:DS National Team Collaboration Goods’ produced through a collaboration between the KBO and the National Museum of Korea.

Details on the composition of the away cheering squad package and how to apply can be found on the official KBO website.

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

*This content was translated by AI.View Original