Coaching staff set for Asian Games baseball team

The coaching staff for South Korea's national baseball team set to compete in the upcoming Asian Games was announced on August 25. The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) and Korea Baseball Softball Association jointly unveiled a six-man team to work under manager Ryu Ji-hyun. The staff comprises three former KBO club managers and one collegiate manager.

Kang In-kwon, who previously managed the NC Dinos and is now the quality control coach for the Hanwha Eagles, will serve as the bench coach. Lee Dong-wook, another former Dinos manager, will again be the fielding coach. Choi Won-ho, previously the quality control coach for the WBC team and a former Eagles manager, will take on the role of pitching coach.

Park Kyung-su, the quality control coach for KT Wiz, is the hitting coach for the national team. Choi Tae-won, the manager of Kyung Hee University, will be the strategy coach. Battery coach Choi Gi-moon, who previously held the same position at the 2014 Asian Games and the 2024 World Baseball Softball Confederation Premier12, rounds out the coaching staff.

The KBO confirmed that manager Ryu held his first meeting with the staff on August 25 at the KBO headquarters in Seoul. The national team, consisting entirely of KBO players, will assemble at the team hotel on September 14 and train at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul for the following three days. They will then depart for the Asian Games host city of Nagoya on September 18.

In the preliminary round, South Korea will face Chinese Taipei on September 21, Hong Kong on September 22, and Thailand on September 23 in Group B. The top two teams from each of the two groups will advance to the Super Round, with the final scheduled for September 27.