Sports Briefs

SNOWBOARD

Korean snowboarder wins the Europa Cup giant slalom

Jeong Hae-rim won the Europa Cup’s parallel giant slalom race in Davos, Switzerland, on Saturday.

Though the tournament is considered a level below the International Ski Federation (FIS) World Cup events, a number of top-ranked snowboarders competed in the event. With her victory, Jeong became the first-ever Korean snowboarder to win back-to-back FIS Europa Cup events.

“I’m very happy to be the first Korean snowboarder to win two consecutive Europa Cup events,” Jeong said. “By winning the event against the Sochi Olympic gold medalist and the winner of the World Cup event, I gained confidence. I think I can prepare well for next season.”

By Kang Yoo-rim

BASEBALL

Details on baseball at the Tokyo Olympics announced

The international baseball governing body announced the sport’s qualification system for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

The Switzerland-based World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) announced Saturday that the first opportunity to qualify for the six-team Olympic baseball tournament will come at the 2019 Premier 12, the WBSC’s flagship event.

The WBSC said the top finisher from the Americas and the top country in the Asia/Oceania region, excluding the Olympic host Japan, will earn direct entry into Tokyo 2020. The Premier 12 will be open to the top 12 nations in the final 2018 WBSC world rankings.

Korea is the most recent Olympic baseball champion, having won gold at the Beijing 2008 Olympics. The sport did not appear at the two next summer Olympics in London and in Rio de Janeiro, but it is back in the Summer Games for 2020.

Its intercontinental qualifier, featuring six teams, will be the final opportunity for countries to book their spots for Tokyo 2020. The participants in this one will be the runner-up from the Africa/Europe qualifier, the second- and third-place finishers from the Americas qualifier, the two best finishers from the 2019 Asian Championship who haven’t already qualified for the Olympics, and the winner of the Oceania qualifier.

Rookie Kang Baek-ho hits first home run of KBO season

Kang Baek-ho, the first overall pick in last year’s Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) rookie draft, hit the first home run of the league’s 2018 season on Saturday.

The 18-year-old left fielder for the KT Wiz hit a solo shot off Hector Noesi of the Kia Tigers in the top of the third inning at the Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in Gwangju, 330 kilometers (205 miles) south of Seoul. This was Kang’s first career KBO at-bat.

Facing a pitcher with 20 wins last season, Kang worked the count to full before jumping on the sixth pitch of the at-bat and sending it over the left field wall. Kang batted eighth.

The solo homer cut KT’s deficit to 2-1.

Kang is the second KBO rookie to go deep in his first career at-bat on Opening Day, following Cho Kyung-hwan of the Lotte Giants in 1988.

Yonhap