Sports Briefs

BASEBALL

Oh Seung-hwan snatches up yet another save

Oh Seung-hwan of the St. Louis Cardinals picked up another save of the season during the game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park in Pennsylvania on Tuesday to help the Cardinals win 8-1.

Oh took the mound in the ninth when the Cardinals were tied at 1-1 and tossed another scoreless inning. Oh lowered his ERA from 3.48 to 3.38. His fastest pitch was recorded 151 kilometers (94 miles) per hour.

The game came to a conclusion in the 11th, with the Cardinals having scored seven runs. The victory allowed the Cardinals to end their two-game losing streak.

By Kang Yoo-rim

TRACK AND FIELD

Korea bows out of Kenya competition due to safety

Korea will not participate in an international youth athletics competition in Kenya next month due to safety reasons, the country’s track-and-field governing body said Wednesday.

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World U-18 Championships will be staged from July 12-16 in Nairobi, but the Korean Association of Athletics Federations (KAAF) said it will not send its track-and-field prospects to the Kenyan capital.

“We can’t travel to the championships risking our safety,” a KAAF official said. “We will not compete at the event.”

Korea joins a few other countries that have also decided to pull out of the event because of security concerns in Kenya, which received a “critical” crime and terrorism rating by the United States Department of State. The United States, Japan, New Zealand and Canada also will not participate in the event.

Even Britain, the home country of IAAF President Sebastian Coe, withdrew from the biennial competition.

China, however, will send 51 athletes, and will be joined by Ethiopia and Poland.

FOOTBALL

Kim Bo-kyung to join Japan’s Kashiwa Revsol

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors midfielder Kim Bo-kyung is set to join Japanese side Kashiwa Reysol, his Korean football club said Wednesday.

Jeonbuk said they’ve received an offer from Kashiwa, and both sides are currently closing the deal on the 27-year-old’s transfer.

If completed, Kim will leave the K League Classic club after playing one-and-a-half seasons. He was pivotal in Jeonbuk’s Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League title run last year, playing all 13 matches at the continental club football tournament.

“Kim wants to play in Japan, and both teams agreed on contract terms,” said Baek Seung-kwon, Jeonbuk’s general manager. “Kim has been our core player, and we are currently searching for a player who can replace him.”

Jeonbuk have been linked with Yanbian Funde midfielder Yoon Bitgaram, who is looking to come back to Korea before starting his mandatory military service.

To apply for the military football club Sangju Sangmu, a player must be registered with a local club for at least six months.

Kim, whose contract with Jeonbuk ends this year, is familiar with the Japanese football league.

Yonhap