the ace pitcher of the Korean baseball team, announced his retirement from the national team.
On the 14th, after returning from the 2023 먹튀검증 World Baseball Classic (WBC) competition, Kim Gwang-hyun said on his social media, “Thank you for supporting the national team Kim Gwang-hyun so far.”
He continued, “It was a dream and pride to be a national representative,” he wrote.
He also said, “I grew a lot and learned a lot while playing for the national team.” “The feeling of playing the game with the Korean flag on my chest, and the appearance of singing the national anthem with a gold medal around my neck is a lifelong pride and pride.” I saw.
In addition, he said, “There were times when my grades were not good, but I think I was able to become stronger by not being disappointed and using it as an opportunity.” At the same time, he expressed regret, saying, “I could have done better, but it is so regretful and indignant.”
Beijing Olympic Semifinals, a famous scene in Korean baseball history
Kim Gwang-hyun, who has been prominent enough to be named on the 2005 Asian Baseball Championship team roster since high school, played for the first time as an adult national team in the final qualifying round for the Beijing Olympics in March 2008 when he was 20 years old.
In August of that year, Kim Gwang-hyun, who started in the Beijing Olympics semi-final match against Japan, recorded 6 hits and 2 runs (1 earned) in 8 innings, making a remarkable fight that will go down in Korean baseball history. At that time, Korea, with Kim Gwang-hyun and Ryu Hyun-jin’s ‘one-two punch’ at the forefront, won the gold medal with a total victory of 9 matches.
The 2009 WBC was a pain. He started again against Japan, but collapsed with 7 hits and 8 runs in 1.1 innings. Korea won the runner-up, but Kim Gwang-hyun could not smile widely.
However, Kim Gwang-hyun, who restored his honor with the gold medal at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games, ran whenever the national team called and played an active role as Korea’s ace, leading the 2015 Premier12 championship and the 2019 Premier12 runner-up.
The Tokyo Olympics in 2020 (held in 2012), when he was playing in the American professional baseball major league, was skipped, and Kim Gwang-hyun, who was 34 years old, was called back to the national team ahead of this year’s WBC.