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The final was held on the 21st (local time) at Lawn Depot Park in My ARMY, Florida, USA. Japan's starting pitcher Shota Imanaga hit a solo home run in the second inning, but behind that, Munetaka Murakami's home run and other home runs turned the game around, and Kazuma Okamoto's solo home run in the fourth inning added a point. In the 8th inning, Yu Darvish took the mound and gave up one run, but in the final inning, Shohei Otani went to the mound. Japan kept a clean sheet and won 3-2 against the United States.
Led by manager Hideki Kuriyama, Samurai Japan is a team of major league players such as the pitcher-hit “two-sword style” Otani, Darvish, and Masanao Yoshida, as well as promising young players from Japan such as 23-year-old Murakami and 21-year-old Roki Sasaki. Players conclude. Since the second tournament in 2009, he has won the championship for the first time in three tournaments and for the third time.
The news of WBC Japan's victory was immediately reported in South Korea. Yonhap News said that the Japan-US summit battle was "perfect until the end of the story" and "Otani's final ball also secured the victory of the Japanese national team who set sail to become the world's number one. Otani, who rarely shows his emotions, threw down his gloves and hat and was immersed in the joy of victory."
Korea, who were in the same group as Japan in the first round of this tournament, faced Japan on the night of the 10th of this month. Japan won the match 13-4. In South Korea, disappointment spread over the loss to the old enemy. The Korean media reported, "March 10th Korean baseball, humiliation day."
Korea won against the Czech Republic 7-3 after that, but Australia in the same group finished the first round with 3 wins and 1 loss, and was eliminated in the first round for the third consecutive tournament.
The Korean media published articles with a harsh tone on the results of this tournament. Nikkan Sports commented, "This is a shocking result for the KBO (Korea Baseball Committee), who were expecting at least the top 8 and the top 4 in their hearts." The Chosun Ilbo said, "The goal of the top four was the dream of a frog in a well." Fans' voices of disappointment leaked out on the Internet.
South Korea advanced to the top 4 in the first WBC tournament in 2006, and finished second in the 2009 tournament. However, in the 2013 tournament, the 2017 tournament, and this tournament, she lost in the first round for three consecutive tournaments. The slump continues.
This tournament ended with Japan's victory, and as mentioned above, the Korean media also reported the results of the match, but each media focused on Otani's success. Edaily said, "It was a tournament that clearly proved that Otani was the best player. Japan went undefeated and won the championship, but Otani was the main character. The 2023 WBC will end with Otani's one-man show."
The Korean media also reported in detail about Otani's remarks during the tournament. Before the semi-final match against Mexico, Otani talked about the meaning of Japan's victory in the WBC, saying, "It's the same with Japanese fans, Taiwan, South Korea, and unfortunately we lost in the qualifying this time. I think, but I think that if we win, we will feel like it's our turn next time..." Sports Chosun, which introduced this remark, praised him, saying, "Beyond personal satisfaction and Japan's glory, I think about baseball in Asia. I love baseball from the bottom of my heart."
In an interview after the final match, Otani mentioned South Korea and other Asian countries that participated in the tournament. When asked by a reporter, "I think baseball in Japan will be getting more and more attention, what are your thoughts on the future?" I think it was good that we were able to win the championship as a step toward making the country love baseball more and more, and I hope that it will be like that."
2023/03/27 13:04 KST
