Will we be able to see Ahn Kwon-soo, the “good fortune” of the professional baseball Lotte Giants, next season? Currently, there are many mountains to overcome, but as the possibility increases little by little, the expectations of Lotte fans are rising.
The Korea Baseball 메이저사이트Organization (KBO) announced the preliminary list of 198 players for the Asian Games in Hangzhou on the 28th. This roster consists of 180 professional players and 18 amateur players, including 147 players under the age of 25 or less than 4 years old and 33 wild cards. Ahn Kwon-soo was proudly included in this list. Ahn Kwon-soo was born in 1993, but he debuted in the KBO League in 2020 and is in his 4th year, so he meets the national team selection criteria of ‘under the age of 25 or under the 4th year of joining’.
Ahn Kwon-soo, a third-generation Korean-Japanese, can only play in the KBO League until this year according to the Military Service Act. If he extends his active duty, he must enlist in the military. If he competes as a representative of the Asian Games and wins a gold medal, he will receive exemption from military service, which opens the way for him to continue to play an active role in the KBO League.
The chances of Ahn Kwon-soo making the final entry for the Asian Games are currently ‘half-and-half’. The final entry consists of 24 players, including 3 wild cards, and in principle, a maximum of 3 players per club. In addition to Ahn Kwon-soo, 13 other players including Park Se-woong, Na Kyun-an, Kim Jin-wook (above pitcher), Ko Seung-min, Han Dong-hee, and Hwang Seong-bin (above outfielder) were included in the preliminary roster. In other words, you have to beat the competition within the team first. Other teams also have national team-level outfielders such as Lee Jung-hoo (Kiwoom), Choi Ji-hoon (SSG), and Kang Baek-ho (kt).
That doesn’t mean there is no hope at all. The keynote of the Asian Games national team is ‘young players with excellent skills’. In the meantime, due to the decline in competitiveness in international competitions, the KBO has established the principle of achieving the national team generation change and achievements at the same time. If Ahn Kwon-soo maintains his current skills until June when the final entry is announced, the Taegeuk mark can become a reality. This is why Ahn Kwon-soo has to devote everything to maintain his current condition.