Category: Sports

SEOUL, The Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL) will look to build new fandom of American football in South Korea this year, the league office said.

The NFL announced an expansion of its Global Markets Program on Monday (U.S. local time), and South Korea is one of five new markets, along with Argentina, Colombia, Japan and Nigeria, set to participate this year.

Established in 2022, the Global Markets Program gives NFL clubs international marketing rights to build brand awareness and fandom beyond the United States with events and other commercial opportunities. The NFL said 25 out of its 32 teams will participate in the program across 19 international markets.

The Rams picked South Korea and Japan as new markets to tap into this year after reaching out to Australia, China, Mexico and New Zealand in earlier seasons. The Rams could potentially schedule games in countries outside the U.S.

The NFL is the most popular professional sports league in America and its championship final, Super Bo
wl, is one of the most watched sporting events in the U.S. each year. American football doesn’t have much presence in South Korea, though games are available for livestreaming and on demand on the local streaming site Coupang Play.

“The momentum of the Global Markets Program underscores the strong commitment of NFL clubs to growing the game and their passionate fan bases around the world. Clubs are seeing the value and opportunity in new markets and aligning with the league to accelerate that growth together,” Peter O’Reilly, NFL’s executive vice president of club business, major events and international, told NFL.com. “We can’t wait to see the ongoing impact of the program on fandom and global growth in this season and in years ahead, both in new and existing markets and via new clubs joining and active clubs deepening their strategic commitments.”

The Rams were founded in 1936 as the Cleveland Rams. They later moved to Los Angeles and then St. Louis before returning to Los Angeles in 2016.

They won Super
Bowl titles in 2000 and 2022.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

SEOUL, Bae Ji-hwan, the South Korean utility player for the Pittsburgh Pirates, will begin the 2024 regular season on the injured list (IL).

The Pirates finalized their Opening Day roster Monday (U.S. local time), three days before the start of the new Major League Baseball (MLB) season. Bae was not among the 26 players on the list, and the Pirates said Bae will be on the (IL) while dealing with a left hip flexor injury.

The 24-year-old has not played in spring training since March 5. In 11 exhibition games, he batted .273 with an RBI, two steals and a .773 on-base plus slugging percentage.

The versatile player has appeared at center field and second base. In the 2023 regular season, Bae logged time at second base, shortstop and center field.

Bae made his big league debut with the Pirates in 2022 and played in a career-high 111 games in 2023, while batting .231/.296/.311 with a team-leading 24 steals.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

SEOUL, The western city of Incheon will host South Korea’s first World Table Tennis (WTT) Champions competition this week, bringing some of the world’s top ping pong players to a brand new venue.

The WTT Champions Incheon will be the first WTT Series event to be held in South Korea, and also the first WTT Champions event of 2024. It will begin Wednesday and finish on Sunday, with the men’s and women’s singles champions each taking home US$15,000 and collecting 1,000 world ranking points.

WTT is an entity created by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) in 2019 to run commercialized table tennis tournaments, including the WTT Grand Smash, WTT Star Contenders, WTT Contenders and WTT Champions.

For the Incheon competition, the men’s and the women’s singles will each feature top 30 players in the world rankings, plus one wild card player each from the host country, and one player each nominated by WTT.

South Korea will send five male players and five female players to the event, led by Shin Yu-bin
, world No. 7 in the women’s singles, and Jang Woo-jin, world No. 12 in the women’s singles.

No South Korean player has won a WTT Champions event, and it likely won’t change following Monday evening’s draws.

On the women’s side, Shin is on the same side of the draw with world No. 3 from China, Wang Yidi, who defeated Shin in the quarterfinals of the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships in Busan last month.

More Chinese stars could stand in the way of South Korean players.

The next South Korean player in the women’s singles rankings, No. 17 Joo Cheon-hui, will likely run into world No. 4 Chen Meng in the round of 16. South Korean veteran Jeon Ji-hee, ranked 20th, could face world No. 2 Wang Manyu in the quarterfinals.

In the men’s singles, Jang will face his countryman An Jae-hyun to begin the tournament. And world No. 4 from China, Ma Long, could await Jang in the quarterfinals. Two other Chinese veterans, No. 2-ranked Fan Zhendong and world No. 3 Liang Jingkun, are the top two seeds expected to co
me out of the opposite ends of the bracket.

From the round of 32 to the quarterfinals, matches will take the best-of-five format. In the semifinals and the finals, matches will be best-of-seven.

Inspire Arena in Incheon, near Incheon International Airport, will be the venue for the competition. This will be the first sports event to be held there.

From Wednesday to Saturday, matches will be played starting at 11 a.m. and again at 7 p.m. The finals on Sunday will start at 5 p.m. All matches will be played on one table.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

SEOUL, Two of South Korea’s most gifted offensive players came through when their team needed them the most Tuesday night in Bangkok, providing a poetic moment in the process.

With South Korea nursing a 1-0 lead over Thailand early in the second half of their latest World Cup qualifying match at Rajamangala Stadium, playmaking midfielder Lee Kang-in did what he does best: threading a pass to find a teammate when there doesn’t seem to be much room at all.

And Lee couldn’t have asked for a better recipient of his pass. It was captain Son Heung-min, who had some open space on the left side of the box. And Son typically doesn’t need much space to operate.

Son dribbled into the box and past defender Suphanan Bureerat before firing a shot between the legs of goalkeeper Patiwat Khammai. South Korea took a 2-0 lead and went on to win 3-0.

Lee jumped into the arms of Son to celebrate their goal-scoring play, a moment whose significance must not have been lost on many South Korean fans in the stands in Bangkok or
watching from home.

These two players were involved in a scuffle over a game of table tennis during the Asian Football Confederation Asian Cup last month in Qatar. Son, as captain, wanted to use the team dinner on the eve of South Korea’s semifinal match against Jordan as an opportunity for bonding. However, Lee and some other younger players finished their meal early and left to play some ping pong.

Lee defied Son’s order to rejoin the team, and in the ensuing shoving match, Son dislocated a finger in his right hand.

After the incident was belatedly revealed, Lee took a beating from the angry public for challenging the beloved and highly-respected captain. Lee later visited Son in London, where he plays for Tottenham Hotspur, to apologize in person. Then right after reporting to national team camp near Seoul last week, Lee apologized in front of cameras once again.

Lee received a warm ovation from fans at Seoul World Cup Stadium last Thursday before the start of the first leg against Thailand, a sign tha
t people had moved on from the incident. And after getting subbed in for that match, Lee started Tuesday and made an impact on the first two South Korean goals.

It was Lee’s through ball to forward Cho Gue-sung that resulted in Lee Jae-sung’s opening goal in the 19th minute. After taking the feed from Lee, Cho rolled the ball toward the wide-open net, and Lee got a piece of the ball to push it over the goal line at the last minute.

The match wasn’t as lopsided as the final score indicates. Before Son’s goal, South Korea had survived some scares and were lucky to stay up by one.

And the Taegeuk Warriors turned to their most trustworthy offensive options, and Lee and Son, having long buried their hatchet, delivered the goods.

Son thanked his teammates for their sacrifice and dedication while playing in stifling conditions in Bangkok.

“I think we really played as a team. I am so happy to get this clean-sheet win,” Son said in a televised interview after the match. “Everyone went the extra mile tonight. I ho
pe we can keep up this momentum.”

On his incident with Lee, Son said, “When competitive athletes are around each other, things can boil over and they can get into some arguments.”

“I think Kang-in will learn from this experience and grow both as a person and a football player,” Son said. “I believe he is the one that will lead South Korean football in the future. And he deserves to be loved by a lot of football fans. He just has to understand he has many eyeballs on him.”

As for their embrace, Son smiled and said, “It’s been a while since I last hugged him. I hope he continues to play well.”

Source: Yonhap News Agency

SEOUL, Son Heung-min scored in his second straight match as South Korea defeated Thailand 3-0 on Tuesday in Bangkok to remain unbeaten in the Asian World Cup qualifying tournament.

Son’s 46th international goal doubled South Korea’s lead in the second half at Rajamangala Stadium, after Lee Jae-sung opened the scoring 19 minutes into the Group C match in the second round of the Asian qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Substitute Park Jin-seop added an 82nd-minute goal for the comfortable win.

South Korea stayed atop Group C in the second round with 10 points from three wins and a draw.

This was a bounceback performance for the Taegeuk Warriors, who were held by Thailand 1-1 at home last Thursday.

Son has now scored in all four matches so far in the second round. He sits four back of Hwang Sun-hong, caretaker boss for the national team, for second place on the South Korean scoring list. Cha Bum-kun, a Bundesliga star from the 1980s, is the all-time leader with 58 goals.

This was Son’s 125th intern
ational appearance, giving him the sole possession of fifth place. Cha and former defender Hong Myung-bo are tied at the top with 136 caps each.

There are nine groups of four in the second round. The top two countries from each group will advance to the third round.

South Korea have played at every World Cup since 1986.

Thailand made some early pushes against a scrambling South Korean defense, with Supachok Sarachat firing a shot just over the net in the opening minute after taking a through ball from Weerathep Pomphan.

South Korea gradually found their rhythm with some quick passes that poked holes through Thailand’s defense. In the 13th minute, Hwang In-beom sent Son Heung-min in alone with a nifty pass, but defender Suphan Thongsong made a hard, clean tackle to foil that opportunity.

South Korea finally broke through in the 19th minute, in a sequence that began with Lee Kang-in threading a pass for striker Cho Gue-sung behind the defense.

Goalkeeper Patiwat Khammai moved out of his position in an ill
-advised attempt to stop the shot, and Cho rolled the ball diagonally past the helpless goalkeeper.

As the ball headed toward the left corner of the net, Thai defender Theerathon Bunmathan momentarily stepped on the ball, before Lee Jae-sung, trailing Theerathon on the play, managed to push it across the goal line.

South Korea dodged a couple of bullets late in the first half. Pansa Hemviboon tried to head home a corner taken by Peeradon Chamratsamee in the 39th minute, but the ball sailed wide right of the target. Some four minutes later, Thailand pounced on a South Korean turnover and Jaroensak Wonggorn fired a rocket right on target, with goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo punching the ball out of harm’s way.

Son gave his team some breathing room in the 54th minute, with Lee Kang-in once again setting things up.

Lee’s pass to the left wing found Son, who danced past Suphanan Bureerat and took a shot through Patiwat’s wickets to make it 2-0 South Korea.

Park Jin-seop rounded out the scoring with his first interna
tional goal in the 82nd minute. After Kim Min-jae headed down a cross from Kim Jin-su, Park struck the ball home with his right foot.

Lee and Son were the two principal figures in a controversy that surfaced after South Korea’s semifinal elimination at the Asian Football Confederation Asian Cup in Qatar last month. They were found to have been in a scuffle over a game of table tennis the night before South Korea lost to Jordan, with Son sustaining a dislocated finger. Lee later visited Son in London to apologize and then stood in front of cameras to do so for fans and teammates upon reporting to national team camp last week.

This was South Korea’s first clean-sheet win since they blanked Iraq 1-0 in a friendly on Jan. 6. They had conceded at least one goal in seven straight matches after that.

South Korea scored their three goals on four shots on target, and had nine shot attempts overall. Thailand had five shot attempts and two on target.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

Casey Kelly hasn’t been pitching for the LG Twins for as long as he has, and as well as he has, by staying the same. He understands that when there are only nine opposing teams over a 144-game season, he simply can’t afford to go after hitters the same way year in and year out.

As he enters his sixth season in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), Kelly has decided to add a new pitch to his arsenal.

“I’m starting to throw the sweeper a little bit more,” Kelly told Yonhap News Agency before the Twins’ home opener Saturday at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul. He was referring to a variation of a slider with more horizontal break.

The sweeper was all the rage in the KBO last year, with NC Dinos ace Erick Fedde riding that pitch to a Triple Crown and the regular season MVP award.

“Obviously, pitching against the same league for five years, you’ve got to change it up,” Kelly said. “And last year was probably the toughest year for me individually. And so this year, I really wanted to make sure that I was gett
ing better and had some more weapons that I was able to use for the hitters this year.”

In an earlier interview with Yonhap in May last year, Kelly said he didn’t know anything about the sweeper. But it was a different story this offseason.

“I wanted to try to throw that, and I’ve been messing with some different grips and trying to find the one that’s best for me,” Kelly said. “The grip that I use is pretty similar to what (Fedde) was doing last year.”

Kelly recruited some help from his father, Pat Kelly, a former major league catcher and now manager of the Louisville Bats, the Triple-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds.

“I talked to my dad a lot this offseason,” the son said. “We always try to work on pitch sequencing and new pitches.”

Kelly is now the longest-serving foreign pitcher in Twins history. For the 2019-2023 period, Kelly leads all KBO pitchers with 68 wins, 684 strikeouts, 144 starts and 875 2/3 innings pitched.

But he had a trying year in 2023, at least in the first half. He carried a 5.66
ERA after his first half-dozen starts. He turned things around in May by going 4-1 with a 2.73 ERA but struggled again over the next two months. The Twins shot down rumors that they were about to cut Kelly loose, and the pitcher rewarded their faith by posting a 2.90 ERA in the second half.

The exclamation point came during the postseason, as Kelly was the winning pitcher in the Twins’ title-clinching, 6-2 victory over the KT Wiz in Game 5 of the Korean Series. It was the Twins’ first title in 29 years.

Kelly now knows the Twins will have a huge bull’s-eye on their back this year.

“Everybody’s excited, and obviously, we have a lot of guys from our last year’s team that are still on our team,” Kelly said. “We’re confident in ourselves, but there’s a lot of great teams in this league. The talent just continues to get better and better every year. So it’s going to be fun to play this year.”

Source: Yonhap News Agency

South Korean major league veteran Choi Ji-man will begin the 2024 season in the minor league for the New York Mets.

MLB.com reported Sunday (local time) that Mets officials had told Choi earlier in the day he would not be on their Opening Day roster this week.

He will instead be with the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate, the Syracuse Mets, at the start of the new season.

The 32-year-old split the 2023 season between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the San Diego Padres but was limited to only 39 games due to injuries. He batted just .163 with six homers and 13 RBIs in those games.

In February, Choi signed a one-year split contract with the Mets worth up to US$3.5 million, including a performance-based bonus. Under a split contract, a player earns different amounts of money based on the time he spends in the majors and in the minors.

Citing a source, MLB.com said Choi declined to exercise the opt-out clause in his contract.

Choi has struggled in spring training, with a batting line of .189/.318/.324 with a home run a
nd five RBIs in 16 games.

Choi’s fate appeared to have been sealed Saturday when the Mets signed veteran designated hitter J.D. Martinez, who belted 33 home runs for the Los Angeles Dodgers last season.

For his career, Choi has a .234/.338/.426 line with 67 home runs and 238 RBIs in 525 games.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

American star Nelly Korda has been crowned the champion at the inaugural LPGA event hosted by South Korean legend Pak Se-ri.

Korda defeated fellow American Ryann O’Toole in a playoff to capture the Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship at Palos Verdes Golf Club in Palos Verdes Estates, California, on Sunday (local time).

The two golfers were tied at nine-under 275 after 72 holes but took different paths to get there. Korda bogeyed two of the last three holes to shoot a 69 in the final round, while O’Toole shot a 66 with birdies at two of her final three holes.

But in the sudden death playoff, which began at the 18th hole, Korda drained her birdie putt to secure her 10th career LPGA win after O’Toole missed hers from a similar distance. Korda, who has won twice this season, took home US$300,000 in prize money. She is also projected to rise from No. 2 to No. 1 in the next women’s world rankings.

Pak, a South Korean golf icon and a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, teamed up with Fir Hills, a Silicon Valley-
based investment company, to host her namesake tournament for the first time this year.

Pak, a 25-time LPGA winner with five majors, previously hosted a South Korean tour event bearing her name from 2014 to 2022 and also staged junior tournaments on both sides of the Pacific.

Shin Ji-yai was the top South Korean player, as she tied for fifth place at seven-under. Shin began the final round tied for the lead with Korean American Alison Lee at nine-under but carded a 73 in the final round with two birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

Ahead of what he believes will be “a tough match” against Thailand in a World Cup qualifying match, South Korean interim coach Hwang Sun-hong said Monday the focus will be on improving his own team’s play, rather than on adjusting to what the opponents will do.

South Korea, ranked 22nd, will meet 101st-ranked Thailand at Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok on Tuesday, for the teams’ fourth Group C match in the Asian qualifying tournament for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The kickoff is 7:30 p.m. in Thailand, or 9:30 p.m. in South Korea.

It will be the second of two matches between the teams. South Korea were held to a 1-1 draw in Seoul last Thursday, an uninspiring performance against a massive underdog.

Now that the series shifts to Bangkok, Hwang said he expects a difficult challenge but added his faith in his squad has never wavered.

“We all understand the importance of this match and also the difficulty of playing away from home. This will be a tough match,” Hwang said at his prematch press conference at Rajam
angala Stadium. “Our players have been working hard. I firmly believe we will win tomorrow because these players have an extremely strong desire to win.”

Captain Son Heung-min scored for South Korea in the first half Thursday but Thailand equalized just past the hour mark with a goal by Suphanat Mueanta. South Korean goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo bailed out his teammates with some key saves.

Hwang, brought in as caretaker boss after the dismissal of Jurgen Klinsmann last month, acknowledged South Korea had some difficulties Thursday and things won’t get any easier this time. But that doesn’t mean South Korea will get away from what they’ve been doing.

“Rather than adjusting to our opponents’ playing style, the key for us is to rediscover our own rhythm,” Hwang said. “It’s important for us to prepare for this match without breaking away from our framework. We will focus on our own play, not our opponents.”

When asked how his players would handle playing in front of a hostile crowd in humid conditions, Hwang said
, “I am proud of my players and I have 100 percent faith in them. Those guys will run into some difficulties but I am confident they can overcome them.”

Source: Yonhap News Agency

With distractions from the post-Asian Cup controversy behind them, South Korea will look to put on a better performance in their World Cup qualifying campaign this week when they visit Thailand for a return match.

South Korea and Thailand will play for the second time in six days when they clash Tuesday evening at Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok. It will be the fourth match for both countries in Group C of the second round in the Asian qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The kickoff is 7:30 p.m. local time, or 9:30 p.m. in South Korea.

South Korea, ranked 22nd, got held to a 1-1 draw by 101st-ranked Thailand last Thursday at Seoul World Cup Stadium. Captain Son Heung-min scored the match’s first goal in the first half, but Thailand equalized in the second half against some sloppy defending by the host.

South Korea stayed atop Group C with seven points, followed by Thailand with four points. The top two nations from each of the nine groups will advance to the third round.

The leadup to Thursday’s match
featured a series of potentially distracting events. It was South Korea’s first game since their loss to Jordan in the semifinals of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup. Head coach Jurgen Klinsmann was fired only days after the elimination, and two of the team’s key players, Son and midfielder Lee Kang-in, were later found to have been in a scuffle over a game of table tennis the night before the Jordan match.

Lee later visited Son in London to apologize in person, and stood in front of mics and cameras before a training session last week to do so again.

Some of the team’s younger players also faced criticism for betting money on card games during the Asian Cup, using casino-style poker chips that a national team staff member had packed for the trip. That official has since been stripped of his duties.

For their part, South Korean fans seemed to have moved on from these incidents, giving Lee and all other players a warm reception during introduction prior to Thursday’s match.

The players were
not able to respond in kind, as they looked wobbly on defense and lacked clinical precision on offense.

They will look to key veterans that held up their end of the bargain Thursday to once again lead the charge this week.

Son was the team’s best player in that match. He scored his 45th goal in his 124th international appearance. He is now five behind Hwang Sun-hong, currently caretaker boss of the national team.

Son’s goal was set up by midfielder Lee Jae-sung, who contributed on both ends as the energizer for South Korea before being subbed out about 30 minutes into the second half. A creative force on the offensive end, Lee also works hard on the other side in support of his defenders.

Lee Kang-in was brought in off the bench last week but could get the start this time. He is more of a playmaker than a goal scorer but does have seven goals in 26 matches — all of those seven coming in his last 12 appearances.

Forward Joo Min-kyu finally played his first international match Thursday at age 33 years and
343 days, making him the oldest South Korean player ever to make a national team debut. The top scorer in the domestic K League 1 over the past three seasons, Joo only mustered one shot last week. If he scores Tuesday, Joo will become the ninth-oldest player to score for South Korea.

Source: Yonhap News Agency