Two ex-MLB players among veterans left off Olympic baseball team as youth takes over

With six 20-something international rookies on the pitching staff alone, the South Korean baseball team for the Tokyo Olympics will have a youthful flavor. And the country could still put together a competitive team with veterans left off this time. National team manager Kim Kyung-moon unveiled his 24-man roster Wednesday at the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) headquarters in Seoul. Conspicuous by their absence were two former major leaguers currently plying their trade in the KBO: Choo Shi

BaseballJune 16, 2021

Blue Jays' Ryu Hyun-jin settles for no-decision after bullpen blows lead

Toronto Blue Jays' South Korean starter Ryu Hyun-jin saw his personal winless skid reach three games after his bullpen frittered away a lead in late innings. Ryu held the New York Yankees to three runs on three hits in six innings in a 6-5 Toronto loss at Sahlen Field in Buffalo, New York, on Tuesday (local time). The left-hander walked a season-worst four batters, and both of the New York runs came via solo shots. Ryu handed the reins to the bullpen with a 5-3 lead through six, but reliever A

BaseballJune 16, 2021

Ex-MLB player Kim Hyun-soo to lead S. Korean Olympic baseball team

More than a decade after helping South Korea to an improbable Olympic baseball gold medal, former major league outfielder Kim Hyun-soo will try to do it again. Kim was named to the 24-player roster Wednesday, joined by another former major leaguer, KT Wiz infielder Hwang Jae-gyun, on an otherwise youthful roster of Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) stars. Baseball will return to the Olympics for the July 23-Aug. 8 competition in the Japanese capital, after being left off in the past two compet

BaseballJune 16, 2021

S. Korea defeat Ghana in key Olympic football tuneup

With a goal in each half, South Korea beat Ghana 2-1 on Tuesday in a crucial men‘s football prep match for the Tokyo Olympics. SC Freiburg midfielder Jeong Woo-yeong opened the scoring for the hosts in the 41st minute at Jeju World Cup Stadium in Seogwipo, Jeju Island, with second-half substitute Lee Dong-jun netting the go-ahead goal in the 65th. South Korea won the first game over Ghana 3-1 last Saturday. This was the last match before head coach Kim Hak-bum finalizes his 18-man rost

SoccerJune 15, 2021

Blue Jays' Ryu, Cardinals' Kim to start on same day for 2nd time in '21

Can second time be the charm? For the second time this season, Ryu Hyun-jin of the Toronto Blue Jays and Kim Kwang-hyun of the St. Louis Cardinals will start on the same day in the majors -- Tuesday evening in America and Wednesday morning in their native land. Ryu and the Jays will host the New York Yankees at Sahlen Field in Buffalo, New York, at 7:07 p.m. Tuesday local time, or 8:07 a.m. Wednesday in Seoul. Kim and the Cardinals will bring home the Miami Marlins at Busch Stadium at 7:15 p.

BaseballJune 15, 2021

Rays' Choi Ji-man activated following IL stint with groin injury

The Tampa Bay Rays have activated their South Korean first baseman Choi Ji-man from the injured list (IL), following an 11-day stint with a groin injury. Choi was in the starting lineup as the No. 3 hitter against the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago on Monday (local time). Choi had been placed on the IL on June 4, retroactive to the previous day, with a left groin strain. "I am feeling great. I've had some rest, and built my body back up through training and practice

BaseballJune 15, 2021

Players on Olympic football roster bubble looking to prove worth in final test

Young South Korean football players hoping to compete at the Tokyo Summer Games will be raring to take the field Tuesday, when they'll have one last opportunity to build their case for inclusion on the 18-man Olympic squad. Of 28 players at training camp for the men's Olympic football team, 18 saw action in the first of two friendlies against Ghana on Saturday. Head coach Kim Hak-bum had long declared he would use all 28 players across these two matches. But then he added two more players into

Olympic GamesJune 14, 2021

Park Hee-jun wins S. Korea's first Olympic qualification in karate

South Korean karate practitioner Park Hee-jun has earned the qualification for the Tokyo Olympics, becoming the first Korean to book an Olympic spot in the category, a sports association here said Sunday. Park, 27, qualified for the upcoming games after winning a bronze in male kata at an Olympic qualification tournament that took place in Paris on Saturday (local time), according to the Korea Karate Federation. Kata is a non-sparring karate event in which practitioners demonstrate the Japanes

Olympic GamesJune 13, 2021

Koreas officially out of running for 2032 Summer Olympics

Seoul's drive for co-hosting the 2032 Summer Olympics with Pyongyang has come to an end, following a decision by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to name an Australian city as the only candidate up for a member vote next month. Following its Executive Board meeting on Thursday (local time), the IOC said the fate of Brisbane as the host of the 2032 Olympics will be "in the hands" of its members. In what's expected to be a mere formality, those members will vote on Brisbane's c

Olympic GamesJune 11, 2021

Final tests on horizon for S. Korea before Olympic football tournament

And there will be 18. That's the size of the South Korean men's football roster for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics. Head coach Kim Hak-bum will get a couple of opportunities to test Olympic hopefuls starting Saturday, when the first of two tuneup matches against Ghana will be played in Jeju Island. The kickoff is 7 p.m. at Jeju World Cup Stadium in the city of Seogwipo. Kim called up 28 players for his training camp: three goalkeepers, 10 defenders, eight midfielders and seven forwards. While th

SoccerJune 10, 2021

S. Korea rout Sri Lanka 5-0 in World Cup qualifier

Forward Kim Shin-wook had a brace and teen sensation Jeong Sang-bin scored in his international debut, helping South Korea beat up on Sri Lanka 5-0 in a World Cup qualifying match at home on Wednesday. Hwang Hee-chan and Lee Dong-gyeong had a goal apiece against 10-man Sri Lanka at Goyang Stadium in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, as South Korea remained atop Group H in the second round of the Asian qualification for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. South Korea improved to 13 points from four wins and

SoccerJune 9, 2021

S. Korea coach not fixing what's not broken ahead of World Cup qualifier

As attested by a convincing 5-0 victory over Turkmenistan over the weekend, there's clearly very little, if anything, wrong with South Korea in the ongoing World Cup qualifying campaign. On the eve of the next qualifier against Sri Lanka at home, South Korea head coach Paulo Bento said Tuesday he isn't about to fix anything that isn't broken. "We have not changed our style of play so far, and there's no reason why we should at this moment," Bento said in an online prematch press conf

SoccerJune 8, 2021

S. Korea looking to build on momentum in World Cup qualifier vs. Sri Lanka

In preparing for two remaining matches in the second round of the Asian qualifying for the next World Cup, South Korean defensive back Kim Min-jae said Monday he wanted to string together two more clean sheets. He may well have been speaking for the rest of his team, with South Korea set to face the heavy underdogs Sri Lanka on Wednesday. It will be the second of three qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup to be staged at Goyang Stadium in Goyang, just northwest of Seoul. The kickoff is 8 p.m

SoccerJune 8, 2021

'Gone too soon': Tributes pour in for late World Cup hero Yoo Sang-chul

Tributes have been flooding in from around the football world for Yoo Sang-chul, a star of the semifinalist South Korean team at the 2002 FIFA World Cup who passed away Monday night at 49. Yoo succumbed to pancreatic cancer after a battle that began in November 2019. One of the most versatile players in South Korean football history, Yoo made the FIFA World Cup All-Star Team in 2002 as a midfielder after helping the country to the final four on home soil. Yoo scored the insurance goal in South

SoccerJune 8, 2021

2 S. Koreans tie for 7th at US Women's Open

Two South Korean golfers have finished tied for seventh at the US Women's Open, as the country failed to produce its third consecutive champion at the oldest major tournament in women's golf. World No. 1 Ko Jin-young and second-ranked Park In-bee both finished the championship at one-over 285 at the Olympic Club in San Francisco on Sunday (local time). Ko shot a two-under 69 in the final round, thanks to three birdies against one bogey. Park, a two-time US Women's Open champion, had a 72 on Sun

GolfJune 7, 2021

Kwon Soon-woo ousted in 3rd round at French Open

South Korean player Kwon Soon-woo couldn't get past the third round of the French Open against a top-10 opponent. Kwon, world No. 91, dropped a straight-set decision against the ninth-ranked Matteo Berrettini, 7-6 (8-6), 6-3, 6-4, in their men's singles match at Court Simonne-Mathieu inside Roland-Garros in Paris on Saturday (local time). This was Kwon's first appearance at the third round of a Grand Slam tournament. The 23-year-old is expected to crack the top 80 in the next world rankings.

More SportsJune 6, 2021

Cardinals' Kim Kwang-hyun placed on IL with back tightness

St. Louis Cardinals' South Korean pitcher Kim Kwang-hyun is on the injured list (IL) for the second time this season, with the same condition that kept him sidelined in spring. The Cardinals placed Kim on the 10-day IL on Saturday (local time) with right back tightness, a day after the left-hander exited his start against the Cincinnati Reds before the start of the fourth inning. Kim also missed time during spring training and at the start of the regular season with the back problem. In Frida

BaseballJune 6, 2021

S. Korea take step toward redemption with dominant performance in World Cup qualifier

That's more like it. That South Korea defeated Turkmenistan 5-0 in their World Cup qualifying match on Saturday wasn't a surprise in itself. The biggest takeaway is that South Korea, in addition to beating the team they were supposed to beat, looked good doing it. And that hadn't always been the case with the underachieving national team in recent matches. The win at Goyang Stadium in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, kept South Korea at the top of Group H in the second round of the Asian qualificat

SoccerJune 6, 2021

2 Korean MLB starters suffer losses on disastrous day

It was all of South Korean baseball fans' worst nightmares rolled into one. Two major league starters from South Korea, Ryu Hyun-jin of the Toronto Blue Jays and Kim Kwang-hyun of the St. Louis Cardinals, got the nod on the same day -- Friday evening in America, when it was Saturday morning in their home country. And both took losses, while Kim exited his start early with a lower back injury. They made four regular season starts on the same day last year and both notched victories on Sept. 24.

BaseballJune 5, 2021

KBO-leading Landers lose ace to elbow injury; another starter sidelined

The first-place team in South Korean baseball this season will lose an ace for the rest of the year to an elbow surgery, with another starting pitcher facing a similar fate. The SSG Landers announced Friday that submariner Park Jong-hun will undergo a season-ending elbow operation in Los Angeles next week. Park flew to the US earlier this week to get a second opinion on his ailing right elbow from Dr. Neal ElAttrache at Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic. A doctor in Seoul initially recommended su

BaseballJune 4, 2021