Weekend pick

Home > Sports > Baseball

Weekend pick

Published: 27 Aug. 2015, 20:56

KPGA Tour

KPGA Championship

Friday to Sunday, Sky72 Golf Club, Incheon

Two months after the Gunsan CC Open in June, the men’s tour resumes with the KPGA Championship, which, started in 1958, is the oldest event in the tour. It features 150 golfers with a total purse of 800 million won ($680,000), where the winner will take home 160 million won.

This season, local fans are eyeing the 21-year-old rookie Lee Soo-min, the Gunsan CC Open winner. He currently leads in the tour in MVP points, average scoring and Rookie of the Year standings. In the first round, Lee hit 3-under 69 for tied 21st.

Kim Hak-hyung, 23, was the first-round leader at 8-under.

LG Cup International Women’s Baseball Tournament

Friday to Monday, LG Champions Park, Icheon, Gyeonggi

Entering its second year, the women’s international baseball event will begin four days of games starting today in Icheon. LG Electronics and the Women’s Baseball Association of Korea (WBAK) are sponsoring the event.

Some 150 players from eight teams are in the tournament. Korea is sending two teams as Team Korea is paired with the United States, Taiwan and India in Group A, while Team WBAK is in Group B with Japan, Australia and Hong Kong. The two top teams in each group advance to the semi-finals.

Korea, the host of 2016 Women’s Baseball World Cup, has confirmed 38 players, and its coaching staff includes former Lotte Giants manager Yang Seung-ho.

Asia League Ice Hockey

China Dragon at Anyang Halla

5 p.m. Saturday, Anyang Indoor Ice Rink, Anyang, Gyeonggi

The new season of the Asia League kicks off this weekend and runs through until Feb. 28, 2016. Nine teams will play in a combined total of 216 games over six months.

Korean teams Anyang Halla, High1 and Daemyung Sangmu will be competing in the league. Japan is sending four teams - the Oji Eagles, Nippon Paper Cranes, Tochigi Nikko Icebucks and Tohoku Free Blades. China’s China Dragon and Russia’s HC Sakhalin are also in the league.

Six teams atop the final regular season standings will advance to the playoffs for the title of AL Champion. Both the semifinals and finals will feature a best-of-five series in March.

Anyang Halla, led by Czech head coach Jiri Veber, was the regular season champion last season but failed to win the championship in the playoffs after losing to the Tohoku Free Blades. Its first game is against China Dragon.

Daemyung Sangmu, a military team, begins its season against the Tohoku Free Blades in Hachinohe, Japan, this weekend.

BY JOO KYUNG-DON [joo.kyungdon@joongang.co.kr]