Baseball

Published: 29 Dec. 2022, 17:29

Top sports stories of 2022

Tottenham Hotspur's Son Heung-min celebrates scoring his final goal of the 2021-22 Premier League season at Carrow Road in Norwich on May 22. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

1. Son Heung-min wins Premier League Golden Boot

Son Heung-min scored two goals on the very last day of the 2021-22 season to become the first Asian player ever to win the Premier League’s Golden Boot.

Tottenham Hotspur's Son ended the season with 23 goals, splitting the award given to the league's top scorer with Liverpool's Mo Salah.

Son shot up the top scorer table in the second half of the season, striking nine times in his last 10 games with six goals coming in the last five games to draw level with Salah. His final two goals came within two minutes of each other as Tottenham beat Norwich 5-0 in the last game of the season on May 22.

Son also scored all 23 of his goals without a single penalty, far outpacing Salah, who scored five penalties this season. Son scored 12 goals with his left foot and 11 with his right foot.

Son is the first Asian footballer to win a Premier League Golden Boot award, making Korea the 13th country to provide a winner.

"It's incredible to have this award," Son said at the time. "I can't believe it. I got really emotional. I dreamed of it as a child. Literally it's in my hands. I can't believe it."

Hwang Hee-chan celebrates after scoring a crucial injury time goal to lead Korea to a 2-1 win over Portugal and advance out of the group stage at the 2022 Qatar World Cup on Dec. 2. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

2. Korea reach knockout stage at Qatar World Cup

Korea put up a valiant fight at the 2022 Qatar World Cup, beating Portugal 2-1 with a phenomenal injury-time winner to earn a spot in the knockout stage.

The Taeguk Warriors started the tournament by holding Uruguay to a 0-0 draw before losing 3-2 to Ghana and beating Portugal 2-1. The Portugal win allowed Korea to advance to the knockout stage on goal difference, a significant achievement considering that both Portugal and Uruguay sit significantly higher on the FIFA world rankings.

Unfortunately for Korea, the draw left them facing tournament favorites Brazil in what would prove to be a very one-sided round of 16 clash. Korea lost 4-1, exiting the tournament with their heads held high after holding Brazil to a scoreless second half with a late consolation goal from prolific giant-killer Paik Seung-ho.

Young stars Cho Gue-sung and Lee Kang-in made a name for themselves on the international stage at the World Cup, combining for some very exciting goals and offering a very clear view of a bright future for Korean football.

The veterans also pulled their weight, with Son Heung-min debuting his Zorro mask and still managing to play all four games while recovering from surgery and Hwang Hee-chan coming back from injury to score the stunner that beat Portugal.

Choo Shin-soo of the SSG Landers celebrates after the Incheon club wins the 2022 Korean Series at Incheon SSG Landers Field in Incheon on Nov. 8. [YONHAP]

3. SSG Landers are first team ever to win wire-to-wire KBO title

The SSG Landers became the first team in 40 years of KBO history to take a wire-to-wire regular season title, meaning they took first place after the first day of the season and held on to it for the remaining 143 games.

The Landers are the only team in KBO history to hold on to first place for the entirety of the season. On very few occasions did the wire-to-wire win appear to be in question, with only the Kiwoom Heroes and Twins getting within a few games of first place at any point throughout the season.

The Landers finished the season with 88 wins, 52 losses and four ties, taking one win more and three losses fewer than the Twins to top the table. They went on to win the Korean Series 4-2, beating the Kiwoom Heroes in the championship series to take the title.

The dominant performance from the Incheon club capped off a historic year for the KBO as it marked 40 years since its founding with just six clubs in 1982. The league held a number of events to mark the occasion, including compiling a 40 Legend team of the top 40 KBO players of all time and inviting available former players to visit stadiums throughout the season.

Hwang Dae-heon of Korea celebrates after winning the gold medal in the men's 1,500-meter short track speed skating final at Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing on Feb. 9. [XINHUA/YONHAP]

4. Korea skaters prove they’ve still got it at Beijing Olympics

Team Korea left the 2022 Beijing Olympics with two gold, five silver and two bronze medals.

Those two gold medals mean Team Korea leaves China having fulfilled its primary objective — ahead of the Games, Korea's stated objective was to win "one or two" golds.

As expected, short track speed skating was Korea's strongest sport in Beijing, with both gold medals and three of the five silver medals coming from the sport.

Hwang Dae-heon won Korea's first gold medal in the men's 1,500 meters, with Choi Min-jeong adding that all-important second gold medal in the women's 1,500 meters. Both Korean relay teams won silver in their respective events. The final short track medal also went to Choi — a silver medal in the women's 1,000 meters.

Those short track medals put Korea at the top of the table in the sport, continuing the team's longstanding dominance in the sport. While Korea won one less gold medal than at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics, it won two more silver medals.

All four of Korea's remaining medals came from speed skating. Kim Min-seok won bronze in the men's 500 meters, with Kim Min-seok adding a second bronze in the men's 1,500 meters. Chung Jae-won and Lee Seung-hoon then won Korea's final two medals of the Olympics, silver and bronze respectively, in the men's mass start.

Napoli's Kim Min-Jae warms up ahead of a match at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona in Naples, Italy on Oct. 12 [REUTERS/YONHAP]

5. Kim Min-jae becomes third Korean ever to play in Serie A

Kim Min-jae had barely had time to put down his bags in Naples, Italy before it became clear that his arrival in Serie A was going to be something special.

The newly-crowned Napoli center-back wasted absolutely no time in proving that he fully deserved his spot in what has turned out to be one of the best starting XIs in Europe, slotting straight into the center of a formidable back line that has happily held its own against the best elite squads like Liverpool have to offer.

Kim signed for Napoli in late July, made his debut in August and was named Serie A player of the month for September. He scored two goals in his first few weeks, making him already the second-highest scoring Korean ever to play in the top Italian league.

Now deep into the season there are only two domestically undefeated teams in Europe’s big five: Napoli and PSG. One of those teams has household names like Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and Lionel Messi, the other has Kim, Victor Osimhen and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.

Napoli reportedly signed Kim for about 18 million euros and five months later they won’t even consider selling for less than 50 million euros. There doesn’t seem to be any shortage of potential buyers, with Manchester United among the many teams said to be desperate to make an offer, but Kim doesn’t look like he’s going anywhere any time soon.

Tottenham Hotspur fans flock to Incheon International Airport in Incheon to greet the London club as they arrive for their pre-season tour of Korea on July 10. [YONHAP]

6. Fans flock to Seoul and Suwon as Tottenham Hotspur arrives in Korea

Football fans turned out in their thousands as Tottenham Hotspur flew to Korea in July, receiving the visiting Premier League club with a fervor normally reserved for the biggest K-pop stars.

Officially Spurs were here to play a couple of pre-season tune-up games, one against an All-Star squad of the K League’s best players and the other against La Liga club Sevilla, who were also in town to hold their own training camp.

In reality, the tour was more like the coronation of Son Heung-min — and by extension the rest of the Tottenham squad — as the king of Korean football. Fans flocked to anywhere a Spurs footballer might be sighted, with members of the support staff and even traveling British media repeatedly stopped and asked for autographs by excited Spurs fanatics.

On the pitch Spurs put on a show with a 6-3 win over Team K League. As exhibition games go, the Spurs vs. K League clash had it all: Nine goals, including an own goal, two direct free kicks and a penalty, a red card and a rotating lineup of the biggest stars of a top Premier League club and the entire domestic league.

The Sevilla game turned out a lot quieter, ending in a 1-1 draw, but the overexcited crowds in Suwon World Cup Stadium didn’t seem that bothered by the final score.

Son Heung-min holds his mask after a round of 16 match against Brazil at the 2022 Qatar World Cup in Doha, Qatar on Dec. 5. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

7. Disaster strikes as Son Heung-min’s face is fractured weeks before the World Cup

Korean captain and talismanic star Son Heung-min’s eye socket was fractured after Chancel Mbemba’s shoulder connected with his face during the 29th minute of a Champions League game between Tottenham Hotspur and Marseille at Stade Vélodrome in Marseille, France on Nov. 1.

Son underwent surgery three days later, but for weeks the Korean public was left on tenterhooks as the star player’s fitness for the World Cup remained unclear.

The surgery was a success, and a week later Son was fitted with a special carbon-fiber mask to protect his face while playing. He slowly inched his way back into training and reported for duty in Qatar on Nov. 16.

Even at that point it was unclear what Son’s fitness level would be. Just days before Korea’s opening game against Uruguay, the Spurs midfielder was unable to say whether he’d actually be fit to play or not. He made it clear that he was willing to play, but the decision ultimately came down to the doctors.

In the end, Son did pull through to play the entire 90 minutes of all four Korea games in Qatar, ably leading Korea as he has done for years. But that performance was a long way from guaranteed, leaving a nation unsure for weeks if their World Cup dreams were over before they’d even begun.

Kim Joo-hyung watches his shot on the second tee during the second round of the Hero World Challenge PGA Tour at Albany Golf Club in New Providence, the Bahamas on Dec. 2. [AP/YONHAP]

8. Kim Joo-hyung earns PGA Tour card with Wyndham Championship win

Kim Joo-hyung officially joined the PGA Tour after winning his first-ever title Aug. 7 at the Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Kim carded a 20-under-par 260, finishing five strokes ahead of countryman Im Sung-jae and John Huh of the United States, who tied for second place.

That was Kim's first PGA title. He already had two titles on the Asian Tour, three titles on the Asian Development Tour and two on the KPGA Tour.

The Wyndham Championship was only Kim's 15th start on the PGA Tour. He played his first PGA event in the 2019-20 Tour, when he missed the cut at the PGA Championship. In the 2020-21 season, Kim played five events, his best finish was the Puerto Rico Open when he tied for 15th place.

Two months later, Kim, now a fully-fledged PGA golfer, won his second PGA title at the Shriners Children’s Open on Oct. 9, beating world No. 4 Patrick Cantlay.

Not content with just outplaying the FedExCup champion, 20-year-old Kim also turned heads by powering through all four rounds without a single bogey.

With the Shriners Children’s Open title, Kim became the youngest golfer ever to win two PGA titles, six months earlier than Tigers Woods, who won his second-ever trophy at 20 years and nine months old.

Woo Sang-hyeok of Korea competes during the men's high jump final at the World Athletics Championships on July 18 in Eugene, Oregon. [AP/YONHAP]

9. High jumper Woo Sang-hyeok reaches No. 1 in the world

Korean high jumper Woo Sang-hyeok rose to the top of the official world rankings after winning Korea's first-ever silver medal at the World Athletics Championships on July 18, becoming the first Korean track and field athlete ever to top the world ranking in any discipline sanctioned by World Athletics.

Woo rose to the spot after taking silver at the World Athletics Championships in Oregon, clearing a height of 2.35 meters.

The achievement comes off the back of incredible run for Woo that began with his fourth-place at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

In March this year, Woo won gold at the 2022 World Indoor Championships with a height of 2.34 meters, and in May he became the first Korean ever to win a World Athletics Diamond League title. The Diamond League is the top tier of World Athletics competition, with 13 events held throughout the year.

Woo currently holds the Korean record of 2.35 meters, which he set at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and matched in Oregon in July 18. He broke the long-standing Korean record of 2.34 meters, set on June 20, 1997 by Lee Jin-taek.

Despite the relative obscurity of the high jump as a spectator sport, Woo has quickly risen to become a household name in Korea, as much because of his enthusiasm and enthusiastic personality as his athletic ability. Never knowingly without a massive grin, Woo’s evident love for high jump has done a huge amount to raise the profile of the sport.

Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team driver Stoffel Vandoorne reacts after winning Season 8 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship in Seoul on Aug. 14. [AP/YONHAP]

10. The first Seoul E-Prix whizzes through the streets of Jamsil

Motorsports arrived in Seoul this year, locking down a section of streets around the Jamsil Sports Complex for three days of high-speed, low-emission fun as the 2022 Seoul E-Prix pulled into town.

The Seoul E-Prix featured the final two races of the 2022 Formula E — the electric version of professional motorsports racing — season, bringing together racers and motorsports fans from around the world for what promised to be an August weekend full of cars, concerts and the occasional crash.

While the races were mostly seen as a success — with Mitch Evans winning the first race, Edoardo Mortara the second and Stoffel Vandoorne crowned overall champion — the humidity and rain conspired to make it a tough watch at times for the fans.

The concert lineup for the event included huge stars like CL and Zico, but the distance between fans in the stands and the stage at the Olympic Stadium made for an awkward viewing experience.

In the end, the Seoul E-Prix proved to be an interesting experiment with what motorsports could bring to Seoul, but with some definite issues still to work out. They may not be resolved any time soon, however, with Formula E canceling any plans for a return to Seoul in 2023.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]