“First of all, LG (Twins) players have also been included. If the Korean Series ends early, they can be added.”
Coach Ryu Joong-il, who led the team to four consecutive Asian Games gold medals, expressed his enthusiasm for the APBC (Asian Professional Baseball Championship).
KBO announced on the 18th that it had appointed coach Ryu Joong-il as the head coach of the APBC 2023 national team, which will be held at Tokyo Dome in Japan from November 16th to 19th.
This is the second competition following 2017. Four countries, including Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and Australia, are participating. After the full league is played, the top two teams advance to the finals. Last time, the winning team was Japan, and the runner-up team was Korea.
The APBC is considered a much more important competition in Japan than the Asian Games. This is because, unlike the Asian Games where social baseball all-stars participate, professional players from the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) will participate. There is quite a bit of pressure on the head coach. It is an opportunity for players to grow to the next level by competing against Japanese star players.
I contacted Coach Ryu, who once again shouldered the weight of being the national team’s head coach.
“It is true that the members from the Asian Games are players who will play in the WBC (World Baseball Classic) or the Olympics in the long term. However, I am still considering whether this APBC will focus on those members.”
This is because the KBO League postseason is held later than usual. The national team will be convened for the first time on November 5th, and will leave for Japan on the 14th of the same month. According to the schedule, this is the day the 5th game of the KBO playoffs is held. On the other hand, if the Korean Series continues to Game 7, the final game will be played on November 15, the day before the APBC opening.
He said, “First of all, players from teams playing the postseason, including LG, were also included in the entry list. However, if the Korean Series is prolonged, the two teams that participated in the Korean Series may not be able to participate.” He added, “We plan to train up to 8 people in the standing army.” explained.
Coach Ryu Joong-il participated in the Hangzhou Asian Games, which ended earlier this month, as part of the all-time young gun squad. For the first time in the history of the baseball team, there was an age limit (25 years or younger) and a seniority limit (4 years or less). Wild cards were also limited in number (3) and age (under 29).
As a result, out of a total of 25 players, 19 were unqualified. Due to repeated injuries, the only wild card that participated in the game was Park Se-woong. However, ‘Ryu Joong-il-ho’ won the gold medal with the starting lineup of Moon Dong-ju, Park Se-woong, and Won Tae-in.토토사이트
KBO plans to play APBC under Coach Ryu and then appoint a full-time coach to lead the Premier 12, WBC, and Olympics in the future. Prior to this, the continuity aspect of leadership was considered. Director Ryu laughed and said, “I don’t know much about his former coach yet.”