South Korean Baseball Dominates Taiwan with a Shutout... 'Flawless Victory at the Asian Games'

5-0 Victory Over Taiwan in Group B Opener at Aichi-Nagoya

Starter Kwak Bin Dominates With 6 Scoreless Innings and 10 Strikeouts

Kim Juwon Collects Three Hits, Pinch Hitter Yoon Donghee Seals the Game With a Home Run

The South Korean national baseball team has defeated their formidable rival, Taiwan.

Under the leadership of manager Ryu Ji-hyun, the South Korean national baseball team beat Taiwan 5-0 in the first match of Group B during the preliminary round of the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, held on the 21st at Okazaki Central General Park Baseball Stadium in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. Ace pitcher Kwak Bin threw six scoreless innings, while pinch hitter Yoon Dong-hee secured the victory with a solo home run in the eighth inning. Since 1998, South Korea has maintained the upper hand against Taiwan in international competitions allowing professional players, with 22 wins and 14 losses.

Korea baseball national team pitcher Kwak Bin is pitching as a starter in the first match of Group B against Taiwan at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games held at Okazaki Central General Park Baseball Stadium in Aichi Prefecture, Japan on the 21st. Okazaki=Photo by Yonhap News

South Korea has won gold medals at the Asian Games for four consecutive events: Guangzhou 2010, Incheon 2014, Jakarta-Palembang 2018, and Hangzhou 2022. Now, at Aichi-Nagoya, they are aiming for an unprecedented fifth consecutive gold. Defeating Taiwan, one of the strongest contenders for the championship, is especially encouraging. In recent major international tournaments, South Korea trailed with only 1 win and 4 losses: the 2019 Premier 12 Super Round (0-7 loss), Hangzhou Asian Games group stage (0-4 loss), 2024 Premier 12 (3-6 loss), and this year's World Baseball Classic (4-5 loss). However, this time, they avenged those defeats in perfect fashion.

South Korea took an early 1-0 lead in the second inning, capitalizing on a fielding error by Taiwan’s shortstop, a single to right from Kim Juwon, and a walk from Cho Hyung-woo to load the bases with one out. Nineteen-year-old Park Jae-hyun then hit a sacrifice fly to left field. The tight contest was broken open in the seventh inning. Park Jun-soon hit a double just inside the right-field line with runners on first and third and no outs, driving in a run. With runners then on second and third and no outs, Cho Hyung-woo added a sacrifice fly to center, pushing the score to 3-0. In the eighth inning, Noh Si-hwan’s sacrifice fly to left and Yoon Dong-hee’s solo home run to left secured the shutout victory for South Korea.

The South Korean national baseball team is celebrating after defeating Taiwan 5-0 in the first match of Group B in the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games held on the 21st at the Okazaki Central General Park Baseball Stadium in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. Okazaki=Yonhap News Agency

The hero of the day was Kwak Bin. He pitched six no-hit innings, allowed just two walks, struck out 10 batters, and gave up no runs. With fastballs exceeding 157 kilometers per hour, he completely overwhelmed the Taiwanese hitters. After reaching 90 pitches by the end of the sixth inning, he handed the ball to Cho Byung-hyun for the seventh. Kwak Bin also erased the disappointment of the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, held in 2023. Though he was selected for the team then, he failed to appear in any games due to poor condition. This time, with his dominant scoreless performance, he redeemed himself and restored his reputation.

South Korea will play their second match of Group B against Hong Kong at Toyohashi Stadium in Aichi Prefecture at 6:30 p.m. on the 22nd.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.