What kind of blessing will the Asian Games gold medal be for Kim Hye-seong (Kiwoom)?
Kim Hye-seong opened the gates to her team’s attack by playing leadoff role for Ryu Joong-il, who earned her fourth straight Asian Games title. In the Super Round match against Japan (2 to 0), she led her team to victory with Kim Hye-sung scoring 2 points and Noh Si-hwan 2 RBIs.메이저놀이터
In particular, in the bottom of the 9th inning of the final against Chinese Taipei, she quickly dashed when a slow ground ball was hit toward second base, tagged the runner on second base, and threw it to first base to create a double play. It was a moment of joy created when even her colleagues thought, ‘A double play won’t work.’ Manager Ryu Joong-il also praised him, saying, “He played well in the finals. He is the best infielder in the KBO League.”
Kim Hye-seong, who met her before leaving Hangzhou on the 8th, smiled sheepishly and said, “Even when she received the gold medal at the awards ceremony, I couldn’t feel it. She was so excited last night that she had trouble sleeping.”
Immediately after the gold medal, numerous congratulations poured in. What she remembers most was of course her mother.
She said, “I FaceTimed my mom. She thanked me for the congratulations, but she also said, ‘I’m glad you got good grades, Mom, I’m happy too,’ and it made me feel good to see her smiling and really happy.”
Although she is only 24 years old, she was a mid-level player on this national team with an average age of 23. There are no seniors who take care of the atmosphere on their own. Although he has experience serving as captain for half a season at Kiwoom, he is bound to have an even greater burden on the national team, let alone the captaincy position, which has a lot to worry about in addition to his own performance.
But is it because it is a team made up of people of the same age? The team atmosphere was not bad throughout the competition. In particular, right after the loss to Taiwan, the atmosphere was so uplifting that the team decided on the bus, “Let’s go to the finals and get revenge on Taiwan.” This is the power of leadership, including Kim Hye-seong. Kim Hye-seong smiled brightly, saying, “From (Park) Se-woong Lee to her teammates, they did a great job. Thanks to that, she was able to claim comfortably.”
Winning a gold medal in the Asian Games is a big turning point for a baseball player. He will be able to focus solely on baseball without worrying about military service.
In particular, concerns about expanding overseas disappear. Hye-Sung Kim can advance overseas by posting after completing the 2024 season.
She is the one who only laughed at the rumors that had been raised several times before about expanding overseas. His quick feet, agile and solid defense, and clever batting have already been proven. He also had excellent results in the KBO league this season, with a batting average of .300, 3.5, 7 home runs, 55 RBI, and an OPS of 0.843.
At an age where he is still approaching his prime, he has accumulated quite a bit of experience not only in the regular season but also in the post-season and international competitions.
Here, even the burden of his military service was relieved. Can Ryu Joong-il’s captain soar?