Sports Briefs

HOCKEY

Men’s hockey team loses 2-1 to world No. 10 Slovakia

Korea is off to a losing start in the buildup to the men’s hockey world championship.

The 19th-ranked team lost to world No. 10 Slovakia 2-1 at Easton Arena in Piestany, Slovakia, on Wednesday. Forward Kim Ki-sung scored the game’s first goal for Korea, but Slovakia rallied with two goals in the third period.

Korea has set up a training camp in Slovakia in preparation for the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Championship set for May 4 to 20 in Denmark. It is the highest tier among the IIHF’s world championships, and Korea will play at this level for the first time after earning a promotion with a runner-up finish in last year’s Division I Group A tournament.

Korea is in for a tough fight in Group B against Canada (No. 1), Finland (No. 4), the United States (No. 5), Germany (No. 7), Norway (No. 9), Latvia (No. 13) and Denmark (No. 14).

BASEBALL

Blue Jays’ Oh Seung-hwan shuts out the Red Sox

Toronto Blue Jays’ Korean reliever Oh Seung-hwan threw his first hitless outing of the season.

Oh kept the Boston Red Sox off the board in two-thirds of an inning at Rogers Centre in Toronto on Wednesday. Though Oh allowed a walk, this was the first in his 11 appearances of 2018 in which he didn’t give up a hit.

Oh took over from Danny Barnes with the Red Sox up 4-3 in the top of the seventh. The visitors had men at the corners with one out.

Oh walked J.D. Martinez to load the bases, but got Rafael Devers to fly out to right field. It would have been a sacrifice fly, but Oh got a break as Andrew Benintendi, the runner at third, failed to tag up.

The next batter, Eduardo Nunez, grounded out to first base on a first-pitch slider from Oh, who escaped the jam and kept it a one-run game.

The Jays failed to rally and ended up losing 4-3. Oh lowered his ERA from 2.08 to 1.93 over nine and one-third innings.

This was Oh’s first appearance since last Sunday against the New York Yankees.

TENNIS

Hyeon leaves Barcelona Open after ankle injury

Korean tennis player Chung Hyeon has withdrawn from a tournament with a right ankle injury.

Chung was scheduled to play in the second round of the Barcelona Open on the ATP Tour in Spain on Wednesday. After getting a bye in the opening round, Chung was to face Bjorn Fratangelo of the United States in his first match. Chung, ranked 19th, reached the quarterfinals in the clay court event last year.

The withdrawal ends his streak of consecutive appearances in the quarterfinals or better at an ATP stop at six. He was a surprise semifinalist at the Australian Open, where he was forced to retire from a match against Roger Federer.

Yonhap