Sports Briefs

OLYMPICS

PyeongChang Games’ lead organizer to advise Beijing

The lead organizer of the PyeongChang Olympics has been named to an International Olympic Committee (IOC) body overseeing preparations for the next Winter Games, officials in Seoul said Monday.

Lee Hee-beom, head of the PyeongChang Organizing Committee, will serve on the IOC’s Coordination Commission for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. The PyeongChang committee said the IOC will count on Lee to share his Olympic know-how with Beijing organizers over the next four years.

The IOC has traditionally named the head of one Olympic Games to its Coordination Commission for future events. Sebastian Coe, the lead organizer for London 2012, is serving on the Coordination Commission for the 2020 Tokyo Summer Games.

TAEKWONDO

Assembly names taekwondo Korea’s national martial art

The National Assembly passed a bill on taekwondo promotion Friday that designates the sport as Korea’s national martial art.

The bill, approved by 225 out of 300 lawmakers, was led by the Bareunmirae Party’s Lee Dong-sup, who heads the National Assembly Taekwondo Federation.

Taekwondo has customarily been perceived as the national martial art but not officially recognized by the law. The revision will pave the way for greater state support for the sport, officials said.

BASEBALL

Oh Seung-hwan pitches first save for Toronto Blue Jays

Oh Seung-hwan, the Blue Jays’ Korean right-hander, now has a save for the Toronto team.

Oh tossed a scoreless ninth inning against the New York Yankees at Rogers Centre in Toronto on Sunday to lock down a 7-4 victory. He gave up a hit and struck out a batter for his first save with the team.

The Jays’ usual closer, Roberto Osuna, had pitched in each of the past two days, and manager John Gibbons summoned Oh, who recorded 39 saves for the St. Louis Cardinals in the last two seasons, to take care of the ninth inning Sunday.

Oh, who signed a one-year deal with the Jays in February, is one of the team’s three setup men with some major-league closing experience. The two others, John Axford and Tyler Clippard, pitched scoreless seventh and eighth innings, respectively, in Sunday’s game.

The Jays were down 4-1 through six innings before Justin Smoak got to work at the plate. The All-Star first baseman blasted a two-run shot in the seventh to cut it to 4-3 and then launched a go-ahead grand slam in the eighth for a 7-4 lead.

Oh began the ninth inning by fanning Gary Sanchez on a 1-3 slider. Brett Gardner then flied out to right field. Aaron Judge lined a single to left to keep the Yankees inning alive, but Oh got Giancarlo Stanton to fly out to center to end the game.

Yonhap