At the 2018 Asian Games in Incheon, Korea, there was a sport that touched the hearts of the entire nation. Women’s softball.안전놀이터
While the softball team was overshadowed by baseball’s gold medal, there was a lot of emotional coverage of the team giving it their all despite coming up short. Although these stories had to fade into obscurity after the Games, they have since been supported by the Korea Baseball Softball Association. In addition to finishing third in last year’s Asia Cup women’s collegiate softball tournament, the team also participated in the Canada Cup after hiring coach Scott Crenford. The team also gained a lot of international experience.
The team also traveled to Japan earlier this year and is now awaiting the final roster announcement. The team has been working hard to win its first medal in softball at the Asian Games, including inviting former Japan National Softball Team coach Rei Nishiyama to work on their defense.
After being postponed for one year, the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, will be held from Monday, Sept. 25 to Sunday, Oct. 1 at the Shaoxing Baseball Sports and Culture Center. Kim Eun-young, the vice president of the Korean Women’s Softball Association, will be supporting the team.
While the final roster is not out yet, some of the players who are expected to make the team include some of the key players from last year’s Asia Cup bronze medal. Hong Si-yeon (23, Daegu Metropolitan City Corporation), the No. 4 batsman, showed good form in the tournament as a two-hitter. The “Baseball Softball Night” winners, including Gyeongnam Sports Association pitcher Kim Won-hee, Incheon Metropolitan Sports Association pitcher Lee Kyung-min, Sangji University pitcher Joo Ha-young, and Dankook University hitting machine Park Min-kyung, cannot be overlooked. In addition, Bae Yoo-ga (34), a Korean-American who is still playing, is still going strong.
Currently, women’s softball is ranked 34th in the world and fifth in Asia, behind Japan (2nd), Taiwan (4th), China (11th), and the Philippines (21st). The team will have to overcome home favorites China and the Philippines if they hope to win a bronze medal.
Since softball became an official sport at the 1990 Beijing Asian Games, the gold, silver, and bronze medals have been dominated by the top three Asian nations. From 1990-1998, China won three straight softball titles, and from 2002 to 2018, Japan won five straight. Outside of these three countries, no other Asian nation has won a medal. In eight Asian Games, Japan has won five gold and three silver medals, followed by China with three gold, two silver, and three bronze. Taiwan has won four silver and four bronze medals with no gold.
