Category: Sports Related

This is actually a really good idea by MLB to create fan interest in South Korea for their league:

Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers reacts after flying out to left field against South Korea during an exhibition game at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on March 18, 2024. (Yonhap)

 The Los Angeles Dodgers rallied past South Korea 5-2 to win their second straight exhibition game in Seoul on Monday, with the regular season opener against the San Diego Padres on the horizon.

The Dodgers scored three times in the bottom of the third to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 4-2 lead at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, before adding an insurance run in the seventh.

he Dodgers and the Padres will then open the 2024 Major League Baseball (MLB) regular season at Gocheok on Wednesday, with another game scheduled for Thursday. These two will be the first MLB games played in South Korea.

Earlier Monday, the Padres defeated the 2023 Korean Series champions LG Twins 5-4.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but the Dodgers have a heck of a team this year if they can keep everyone healthy all year.

Of all the stupid things to have a physical fight over, you would not thing going to play ping pong would be one of them:

Woes for South Korean men’s national soccer team continued as its members were found to have gotten into a physical fight with each other before the big match, and the country’s soccer governing body reportedly contemplating whether to request resignation of head coach Jurgen Klinsmann.

The Korea Football Association confirmed Wednesday earlier reports by UK media that the team captain Son Heung-min got into an altercation with midfielder Lee Kang-in ahead of the team’s semifinals match against Jordan in the Asian Cup 2023, resulting in Son dislocating his finger. The row occurred as the team captain tried to stop Lee and younger members of the team from going out to play ping-pong before the crucial match.

The Klinsmann talked things over with both players after the incident, but Son and other veterans reportedly asked the coach to remove Lee from the starting lineup. The coach did not agree and started Lee in the match, which ended in a disappointing 2-0 loss and another lost opportunity for the country to win an Asian Cup.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

Considering how corrupt the IOC is I doubt Kim Yuna will be upgraded to a gold medal:

The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC) said Tuesday it will ask the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to reinvestigate the results of the women’s figure skating final at the 2014 Sochi Olympics after gold medalist Adelina Sotnikova recently admitted failing an initial doping test that year.  
   
Korean figure skater Kim Yuna took silver in the event after finishing second. If a review of Sotnikova’s 2014 tests were to go ahead and she was to test positive, the IOC could opt to eliminate her and elevate Kim to the gold medal spot.  
   
The decision to appeal comes after Sotnikova told a Russian YouTube channel that she failed a drug test in 2014, but was cleared after providing a second sample. Clearing an athlete based solely on a second sample is considered highly irregular. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but the judges from the competition were suspected of being corrupt as well. If you haven’t already I recommend watching on Netflix the show Icarus that goes into detail how the Russians cheated during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

South Korea’s World Cup team is in a tough spot after losing to Ghana:

Korea’s World Cup hopes are hanging by a slender thread after a 3-2 defeat against Ghana in Qatar on Monday. With just one point from the first two games in Group H, Paulo Bento’s men are going to need a convincing win over Portugal on Friday and hope that other results are favorable.

While the game had excitement for the neutral, there was, ultimately, disappointment for the Taeguk Warriors who will be left to regret defensive mistakes and missed chances. Ghana took a two goal lead in the first half, but the Taeguk Warriors came roaring back with two goals in the space of three second half minutes from Cho Gue-sung who became the first Korean to score more than once in a World Cup game. More defensive issues helped the Africans retake the lead and, this time, they held onto it despite plenty of pressure from the Reds.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Manny Pacquiao despite being age 43 is still getting into the ring, this time in South Korea:

Filipino boxing great Manny Pacquiao will fight in an exhibition match in South Korea this winter to raise money for war-torn Ukraine, the event’s organizers announced Tuesday.

Pacquiao, the only eight-division world champion in boxing history, will take on the South Korean mixed martial artist DK Yoo at 11 a.m. on Dec. 11 at the Korea International Exhibition Center (KINTEX) in Goyang, just northwest of Seoul. Proceeds from the match will be donated to help relief and recovery efforts in Ukraine.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

At this point corruption and Olympics should be considered synonyms. Has anyone seen the Netflix series Icarus? At least this Olympics appears so far to not reach any where near that level of corruption:

 The Chinese Embassy in Seoul expressed “grave concern” Wednesday over the accusations of favorable judging for the Chinese team in a short track speed skating competition of the Beijing Winter Olympics.

Two South Korean skaters — Lee June-seo and Hwang Dae-heon — were disqualified in the semifinals of the men’s 1,000-meter race Monday night, with Chinese competitors reaching the finals.

It caused an uproar among many South Koreans, as they regard the short track speed skating judges as having been biased in favor of the Chinese team.

In a statement posted on its social messaging account, the embassy took issue with criticism by “some South Korean media outlets and politicians.”

“We can’t help expressing grave concern and proclaim a strict position,” its spokesperson stated.

Now that it is a “technical” issue, it should be handled by a professional and authoritative institution, the official noted.

“However, some South Korean media and politicians have criticized the Chinese government and Beijing Olympics as a whole, even instigating anti-Chinese sentiment, worsening the public sentiment of the two countries and drawing a backlash from Chinese online users,” read the statement.

It stressed that China can never accept such “irresponsible” behavior.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.