Category: Sports

South Korean sophomore Ryu Hae-ran has recorded her best finish at an LPGA major championship, though it wasn’t enough to end the country’s title drought on the top women’s tour.

Ryu finished alone in fifth at the Chevron Championship, the first major of the season, by shooting nine-under 279 at The Club at Carlton Woods in The Woodlands, Texas, on Sunday (local time).

Ryu held a 54-hole lead in the weather-interrupted tournament, with the third round being completed Sunday morning, but couldn’t stay out in front as she carded four bogeys and two birdies in the final round.

Ryu started her final round with back-to-back bogeys, and another bogey on the fifth pushed her further out of contention.

Ryu bounced back with birdies on the eighth and the ninth, but gave back a shot with a bogey on the 14th.

It was still Ryu’s best showing at a major. Her previous best finish was a solo eighth at the U.S. Women’s Open last year.

Among other South Koreans, rookie Im Jin-hee finished eighth at six-under, and the 2
020 U.S. Women’s Open champion Kim A-lim tied for ninth at five-under.

World No. 1 Nelly Korda won her LPGA record-tying fifth straight tournament with a two-shot victory at the Chevron for her second career major.

By shooting 13-under, with four straight rounds in the 60s, Korda joined Nancy Lopez (1978) and Annika Sorenstam (2004-05) as the only players to win five consecutive LPGA events.

South Korea has not produced an LPG winner nine events into this season. It’s the longest such drought to begin a season since 2014, when Park In-bee won the 14th tournament of the year, the Manulife Financial LPGA Classic.

In 2023, four South Korean players combined for five victories, including one by Ryu, who went on to capture the Rookie of the Year award.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

After sustaining a bruise to his left rib on an errant pitch last week, SSG Landers third baseman Choi Jeong will likely resume his chase of the all-time South Korean home run record this week.

Choi pulled into a tie with former Samsung Lions star Lee Seung-yuop last Tuesday with his 457th career home run in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO). But Choi suffered that rib injury the very next day when he took a two-seam fastball from Kia Tigers starter Wil Crowe to his left side in the bottom of the first inning at Incheon SSG Landers Field in Incheon, just west of Seoul.

Choi exited the game with what Landers officials initially called a broken rib. After Choi underwent further tests the following day, the Landers said Choi had suffered a rib contusion, not a fracture.

The Landers did not place Choi on the injured list, as the Landers enjoyed a six-game homestand last week. Choi even took some light swings during batting practice Sunday and, according to Landers manager Lee Sung-yong, came out of the se
ssion pain free.

“He told me he’d try to get ready to play Tuesday, but we’ll have to see how he feels that day,” Lee told reporters Sunday. “If he takes harder swings, he may still feel some pain. It’s hard to say at this point exactly when he’ll be ready to come back.”

After playing all six games at home last week, the Landers will open the new week on the road in Busan, some 320 kilometers southeast of Seoul, with a three-game series against the Lotte Giants.

They will come home again Friday to host the KT Wiz for three games starting Friday.

While Choi was on the sidelines, his teammate Han Yoo-seom passed him to take the lead for this season with his 10th home run on Sunday.

The next home run will give Choi the all-time record and also extend his double-digit home run streak to a record 19 seasons.

Choi, 37, made his KBO debut in 2005 and has hit at least 10 home runs in every year since 2006. He has topped the KBO in home runs three times — 2016, 2017 and 2021.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

The San Francisco Giants’ South Korean rookie Lee Jung-hoo has seen his hitting streak snapped at 11 games.

Lee went 0-for-2 with a walk as the Giants lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-3 at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Sunday (local time). Lee was also hit by a pitch and was caught stealing.

Lee had hit safely in each of his past 11 games, the longest such streak ever by a South Korean rookie in Major League Baseball (MLB).

During that span, Lee batted 17-for-48 (.354) to raise his batting average for the season from .200 to .289.

Lee led off the bottom of the first inning against starter Slade Cecconi with a groundout to third baseman Eugenio Suarez.

He was then hit by a 0-2 slider from Cecconi in the bottom fourth — the first time he’d been struck by a pitch in MLB — and flied out to right fielder Jake McCarthy in the bottom sixth.

In his last trip to the plate in the bottom eighth, Lee drew a walk from reliever Ryan Thompson. Lee was later caught stealing second base — the third time he’s bee
n thrown out on a steal attempt.

Lee’s batting average fell slightly to .282 after his hitless Sunday.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

SEOUL, SSG Landers slugger Choi Jeong tied the all-time South Korean baseball home run record Tuesday, reaching the cusp of history thanks to a dramatic shot with his team down to their final out.

Choi blasted a solo home run off Kia Tigers closer Jung Hai-young in the bottom of the ninth inning of the teams’ Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) regular-season game at Incheon SSG Landers Field in Incheon, just west of Seoul.

With his 467th home run, Choi pulled into a tie with former Samsung Lions star Lee Seung-yuop atop the career home run list. Choi also leads the league this season with nine home runs.

Choi’s homer was also significant for the Landers, as it tied the score at 4-4 with two outs in the bottom ninth.

Choi took three straight balls and then looked at a fastball for a called strike. With the count still in his favor at 3-1, Choi turned on a belt-high fastball, clocked at 147 kilometers per hour, and drove it 125 meters into the seats in left field.

Two batters later, Han Yoo-seom smoked a t
wo-run homer as the Landers walked off the Tigers 6-4.

Lee, currently manager of the Doosan Bears, finished with 467 home runs after playing 1,906 games. This was Choi’s 2,183rd game.

Choi and Lee are the only two players with at least 400 home runs in the KBO.

Choi, 37, has spent his entire career with the Landers franchise. He made his debut in 2005 when the team was called the SK Wyverns under different corporate ownership. After hitting just one home run in 45 games as an 18-year-old rookie, Choi had 12 homers in 92 games in 2006.

And Choi reached double figures in home runs every year from 2006 to 2023, the longest such streak in league history. He now sits one away from extending his record streak to 19 seasons this year.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

SEOUL, Now that he is a home run away from making South Korean baseball history, SSG Landers slugger Choi Jeong would love nothing more than to set the record as soon as he can.

Choi smacked his 467th career home run in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) on Tuesday against the Kia Tigers. His solo shot off closer Jung Hai-young tied the score at 4-4 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth at Incheon SSG Landers Field in Incheon, just west of Seoul. Two batters later, Han Yoo-seom finished the game with a walk-off, two-run home run off Jung.

After drilling a 3-1 fastball from Jung, Choi is now tied at the top of the KBO home run leaderboard with Lee Seung-yuop, former Samsung Lions icon and now manager of the Doosan Bears. It’s just a matter of time before Choi becomes the new home run king in South Korea.

“I’m not really thinking about breaking the record. I just want this situation to be over as quickly as possible,” the reticent Choi said with a smile. He had also said in a pregame media scrum Tuesd
ay that he could live without the media attention accompanying his record chase.

“I went through some nervous moments before tying the record. And once is enough for me,” Choi added. “Until the day I retire, I will just try to reach double figures in home runs every year.”

Choi has nine dingers this year to lead the league, and No. 10 will not only give him the all-time record but will also extend his record double-digit home run streak to 19 seasons.

Choi, who went hitless in his first three at-bats before hitting a single in the seventh inning, admitted he was distracted all game long.

“I felt a lot of pressure right from the first inning. I couldn’t really concentrate, and I tried to do too much,” Choi said. “I swung at some bad pitches.”

Choi stepped into the box with the Landers trailing 4-3 and down to their final out. Choi represented the tying run, but he said he felt calm at the plate.

“If I had come up with runners on, then it would have been a more stressful situation for me. There were two o
uts, and I was able to just relax and put on an aggressive swing,” Choi said. “I had the count in my favor, and I figured the pitcher would throw his best pitch to a spot where he felt most confident. I had my timing down perfectly and ended up hitting that home run. I am so honored to be tied at the top.”

Choi said he wouldn’t want to celebrate his record-breaking home run when the Landers are trailing.

“That’s what I am most worried about. I don’t want to celebrate my home run when we’re losing. I’d feel terrible doing that,” Choi said. “I’d be happy if I can avoid that situation.”

The Landers and the Tigers will be back at it again for the second game of their three-game set Wednesday. The Landers are in the midst of a six-game homestand, with the LG Twins visiting them for three games starting Friday.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

SEOUL, Two-time reigning South Korean champions Ulsan HD FC will battle Japanese side Yokohama F. Marinos this month for a spot in the final of the top Asian club football tournament.

The two teams will clash in the two-legged semifinals of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League, with Ulsan hosting the opening leg at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Munsu Football Stadium in Ulsan, some 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul. Yokohama will be the home team for the second leg at 7 p.m. on April 24.

Ulsan captured each of the past two K League 1 titles, while Yokohama were crowned the J1 League champions in 2022.

The winner of this South Korea-Japan showdown will meet the winner of the other semifinal matchup between Al Ain FC and Al Hilal.

Ulsan are in fine form heading into the opening leg, with their offense firing on all cylinders. In their most recent domestic match Saturday, Ulsan blanked Gangwon FC 4-0 behind a brace by Joo Min-kyu, the 2023 league scoring champion. Midfielder Lee Dong-gyeong had a g
oal and two assists to become the first player this season to be involved in 10 goals. He ranks second in the league with six goals and first with four assists.

Through seven matches, Ulsan lead all K League 1 clubs with 16 goals.

“This was the best match we’ve played this season,” Ulsan head coach Hong Myung-bo said of Saturday’s victory. “And we have another important match coming up in the AFC Champions League. We will stay humble and prepare for the match the best we can.”

Joo, who has three goals in the AFC tournament, said, “Our pride is on the line and we want to win this matchup for the rest of the K League.”

Ulsan’s defense has also settled down after a rocky start, having posted consecutive clean-sheet victories.

Goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo, who stopped a penalty against Gangwon en route to his third clean sheet of the season, said he wants to make Ulsan supporters proud.

“We’re confident we can win the first match because we’ll be at home,” Jo said. “We want to prove that we are the best of the K
League. We will give our fans much to cheer about when they come to see us play.”

Ulsan are also chasing a ticket to the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup.

The revamped FIFA tournament will award the AFC four spots. Al Hilal and Urawa Red Diamonds, as the two most recent AFC Champions League winners, have grabbed two of them. The winner of the ongoing AFC Champions League will secure another spot, and the one remaining berth will go to the top team in the AFC club rankings, which are based on clubs’ performances at the AFC Champions League in the 2021-2024 period.

Al Hilal are atop the rankings but they have already qualified for the Club World Cup. Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors of the K League 1, who lost to Ulsan in the quarterfinals of this year’s Champions League, are in second place with 80 points. Ulsan, currently at 78 points, will move past Jeonbuk with a win in either of the legs in the semifinals.

A match victory and progress to the next stage of the AFC tournament are each worth three points, and a draw is goo
d for one point.

Ulsan and Yokohama have some common connections.

Ulsan forward Yun Il-lok spent the 2018 season with Yokohama. Ulsan’s physical trainer, Seigo Ikeda, worked for Yokohama from 1997 to 2007.

Yokohama’s South Korean midfielder Nam Tae-hee is a product of Ulsan’s youth clubs. Their Japanese midfielder Jun Amano played for Ulsan on loan in 2022.

Amano had a particularly ugly departure following his one-year stint with Ulsan. After Amano signed with Ulsan’s chief rival Jeonbuk, Ulsan head coach Hong Myung-bo accused the midfielder of reneging on his earlier promise and chasing money, and even called Amano “the worst Japanese player I’ve ever seen.”

One respected figure that connects these two clubs is the late South Korean international Yoo Sang-chul, who succumbed to cancer in 2021.

Yoo spent nine seasons with Ulsan across three stints, and played four seasons with Yokohama over two spells.

During those times, Yoo helped Ulsan grab K League titles in 1996 and 2005, and League Cup titles in
1995 and 1998. With Yoo in tow, Yokohama won back-to-back J1 League championships in 2003 and 2004.

Ulsan plan to hold a memorial event in honor of Yoo on the occasion of the match against Yokohama.

The K League club will invite visiting Yokohama supporters to pay their respects for Yoo at the late star’s “Wall of Memories” set up inside Munsu Football Stadium. T-shirts and mufflers bearing Yoo’s image from his playing days will be on sale.

Yokohama have agreed not to demand any royalty payments for the use of their club logo or other materials during the memorial event.

Source: Yonhap News Agency