The 12th game of the World Baseball Top XNUMX (WBSC Premier 12) Taiwan and Japan in Group B beat Australia and Cuba respectively on Sunday (November 11) and will join hands to qualify for the Tokyo Dome and participate in the semi-finals after the first champion, South Korea, also decided to stop in the group. scene this year. In response, Korean media used the term “Korean Baseball Shame Day” to criticize the “dark period” of South Korean baseball and claimed that “the strength of Taiwan baseball has surpassed that of South Korea “.
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The “Central Daily News” reported under the headline “Korean Baseball Shame Day” that South Korea’s current record is 2 wins and 2 losses. Even if they beat Australia in the last match and Taiwan loses to Cuba, the record will be the same. 3 wins and 2 losses, South Korea will still face elimination and miss the opportunity to qualify for the semi-finals.
STN NEWS also pointed out that this is another disaster and humiliation after South Korea’s elimination in the group stage of the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC), highlighting issues such that the decline in training standards and the weakening of technical standards of players; The Times even stated more bluntly: “This is a dark time for Korean baseball. Perhaps it’s no surprise that we were eliminated in the group stage. »
South Korea won the championship in the first 2015 top 12 tournament and finished second in 2019. Unexpectedly, they stopped in the first round this time, setting their worst record since the tournament was held, this which saddened many fans. Some analysts have pointed out that this failure could be linked to generational change.
It is understood that the players sent by South Korea to this tournament are mostly young players in their twenties. Although this will help improve international competitiveness in a long-term perspective, South Korea has nevertheless exposed its strength against powerful Asian rivals such as Japan and Japan. Taiwan on the sidelines.
