Sports Briefs

BASEBALL

Cardinals’ Oh Seung-hwan helps team to 6-5 win

Oh Seung-hwan of the St. Louis Cardinals picked up his eighth save of the season to help the team win 6-5 against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park in Florida on Tuesday.

While the Cardinals were leading 5-4, Oh got on the pitching mound in the bottom of the ninth, throwing another scoreless inning.

With that, Oh once again lowered his ERA from 3.45 to 3.24. Oh’s fastest pitch was at 152 kilometers (94.4 miles) per hour.

For the Cardinals, the team picked up its fifth consecutive win and is ranked first in the National League Midwest with 18 wins and 14 losses as of Tuesday.

After hitting his 150th career home run in the major league, Choo Shin-soo of the Texas Rangers had another great day, with four stolen bases throughout the game to help his team win 11-0 against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park on Tuesday.

Choo increased his batting average to 0.248 for the 2017 season as of Tuesday.

By Kang Yoo-rim

FOOTBALL

Professional league to begin using video review system

Korea’s professional football league will introduce a video review system earlier than scheduled following a series of missed calls by referees, officials said Wednesday.

The K-League, the operator of pro football competitions, originally planned to adopt the video assistant referees system for the first division K-League Classic on July 22, but it decided to implement the system three weeks ahead of schedule.

“Since the controversy regarding missed calls has worsened, we decided to adopt the system on July 1,” the K League said. “We will finalize all the testing procedures by the end of June.”

The refereeing controversy this season first exploded in March when Gwangju FC claimed they lost to FC Seoul after bad officiating.

With Gwangju leading 1-0, the referees gave a penalty to Seoul as they ruled that Seoul midfielder Lee Sang-ho’s cross hit the hands of Gwangju defender Park Dong-jin in the box. The video replay from the match broadcasters, however, showed that Lee’s cross actually hit Park’s back.

Gwangju gave up another controversial penalty in the second half and suffered a 2-1 defeat.

Following the incident, the K-League expelled the main referee and suspended the assistant referee.

Another controversial handball call was made in a match between Gangwon FC and Incheon United on Sunday, and fans here called for solutions to poor officiating.

“We’re already testing the video review system in the R-League (the reserves league),” a K-League official said. “The system will be also introduced in the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Korea, so we will use those matches as our benchmark.”

Under the system, a referee can run a video replay on the sidelines during the game to make a call. There will be a video assistant referee who will help the head referee conduct on-field reviews.

The K-League previously said it plans to install additional cameras at stadiums to reduce “blind areas” on the pitch and help the referees make correct calls.

Sports legends to attend FIFA U-20 opening ceremony

Host Korea will bring back heroes of the past for the opening ceremony of the FIFA U-20 World Cup later this month, organizers said Tuesday.

The top youth football competition will kick off on May 20 at Jeonju World Cup Stadium in Jeonju, North Jeolla, some 240 kilometers south of Seoul.

Jeonju is one of six hosting cities of the 24-nation tournament that wraps up on June 11.

Korea will face Argentina, England and Guinea in Group A. They will try to match the country’s surprising run to the semifinals at the 1983 event, and the organizers will invite some key members of that 1983 squad to this year’s opening day.’

The list includes then-head coach Park Jong-hwan, ex-forwards Kim Jong-boo, Lee Tae-ho and Shin Yon-ho.

Yonhap