<Anchor> The
baseball team, which is competing for the first time in 13 years since the 2008 Beijing Olympics, will play its first game against Israel today (29th).
Pitcher Won Tae-in, born in 2000, took on the role of starting pitcher.
Byung-min Yoo is a local reporter.
<Reporter> At the
official press conference, head coach Kim Kyung-moon announced that the starting pitcher for the Israeli match was Won Tae-in.
[Kim Kyung-moon / Baseball Team Manager: Because he is young, he has the most wins in Korean professional baseball, and he throws calmly.
I thought that I would do my part well, so I selected it as a starter.] In his
third year as a professional at Samsung, and 21-year-old Won Tae-in this year, he won 10 victories in the first half alone and became the best starting pitcher in the country.
In his national team debut, he took on the role of a starting pitcher in the first round of the Olympics.
Israel manager Eric Holtz showed vigilance and confidence as he recalled victory at the WBC in 2017.
[Eric Holtz/Israel Manager: Korea is a very strong team.
We're going to focus on training defensively, hitting the ball and getting results.] The
national team finished their last warm-up in closed training yesterday.
All preparations are done.
The first step for Korean baseball to win an Olympic gold medal in 13 years begins today.
Host country Japan was dragged to the last minute by Dominica in the opening game held in Fukushima, but managed to win by scoring three points at the end of the ninth inning.