Sports Briefs

BASEBALL

Oh Seung-hwan places fifth in Rookie of the Year ballot

Oh Seung-hwan of the St. Louis Cardinals placed fifth in the National League (NL) Rookie of the Year ballot held by local media in the United States.

According to Sporting News, an American sports website and the dominant American publication covering baseball, Oh was fifth in voting results. Corey Seager, a shortstop from the Los Angeles Dodgers, finished first in the selection results. Seager batted .308 while belting 26 home runs and tallying 72 runs batted in.

Trea Turner of the Washington Nationals came in second and Kenta Madea of the Dodgers came in third. Trevor Story, a shortstop from the Colorado Rockies, came in fourth.

During his first season in the big league, Oh played in 76 games and tossed for 79 and 2/3 innings.

Oh, who started out the season as a setup man, secured the closing assignment for the Cardinals eventually and became the first Korean to card more than one save in three different leagues - the Korean and Japanese leagues and now also the Major League.

Throughout the season, he’s registered six wins, three losses, 14 holds and 19 saves with an earned run average (ERA) of 1.92. Among the relievers in the NL, he was ranked third in ERA and fourth in strikeouts with 103.

FOOTBALL

An Ik-soo resigns after loss in the group stage

An Ik-soo, head coach of the Korean U-19 national team, has resigned from his post.

The Korea Football Association said they have decided to revoke their contract with An after the technical committee convened on Monday.

An official from the technical committee said, “An felt responsible after his team was knocked out of the group stage and tendered his resignation, which the KFA approved.”

An’s replacement will be appointed sometime in November.

An was appointed to his post in December 2014 and had been preparing for the U-20 World Cup, which takes place next year in Korea.

But during this year’s Asian Football Confederation U-19 Championship, Korea finished third in Group A with two wins and one loss.

Despite taking down Thailand in the opening match and host Bahrain, Korea lost 1-2 to Saudi Arabia and was knocked out before the quarterfinals due to goal difference.

By Choi Hyung-jo