Seong Yeong-tak took the mound in the 7th inning against Hong Kong on 22 at Toyohashi Municipal Baseball Stadium in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, closing out the Korean national baseball team’s cold-game victory.
Korea won 13-0, earning its second consecutive victory in Group B’s group stage.
More than the large run differential, the game will be remembered for the pitching staff’s record of allowing no hits or walks.
3-Line Summary
1. Seong Yeong-tak handled the 7th-inning finale against Hong Kong
2. Korea recorded a 13-0, 7th-inning cold-game victory
3. Six pitchers and 12 strikeouts produced the shutout
Six Pitchers, Continuing Through Seong Yeong-tak in the 7th Inning
The Korean national baseball team, led by manager Ryu Ji-hyeon, defeated Hong Kong 13-0 in the second game of the Group B group stage at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. In the game, which ended as a 7th-inning cold game, Seong Yeong-tak (KIA Tigers) handled the final inning, the 7th.
After Choi Min-seok (Doosan Bears) started and pitched 2 innings, Kim Jin-wook, Choi Jun-yong, Kim Yeong-woo, Bae Chan-seung, and Seong Yeong-tak took the mound in succession. The six pitchers did not allow Hong Kong’s lineup a single hit or walk, and recorded 12 strikeouts. They also allowed no runs.
A team perfect game, meaning a game in which not a single pitcher allows a batter to reach base, differs from one pitcher’s complete-game record. It can be achieved even when multiple pitchers work in succession, as long as the opposing batters do not reach base even once through hits, walks, or other means. The key point in this game is that those conditions were maintained through Seong Yeong-tak’s finish in the 7th inning.
National-Team Record First Seen Since 2002
Yonhap News and KBS News reported that, since 2002, when the KBO office computerized Asian Games records, this was the first time the Korean national team had both allowed no hits and achieved a team perfect game. Accordingly, the day’s record met conditions narrower than those of a simple shutout victory.
The offense also scored 13 runs on 14 hits. Noh Si-hwan (Hanwha Eagles) hit a two-run home run in the 1st inning, and Cho Hyeong-woo (SSG Landers) hit a grand slam in the 3rd inning. Kim Ji-chan, Yoon Dong-hee, and Cho Hyeong-woo each had 2 hits.
If the offense’s high run total created the cold-game victory, the pitching staff’s no-hit, no-walk performance created the game’s record value. Seong Yeong-tak’s 7th-inning appearance can be seen as the final scene in which that record continued to the end.
Korea Rises to First in the Group After 2 Straight Wins
After defeating Taiwan 5-0 the previous day, Korea also beat Hong Kong to record 2 wins in Group B. Hong Kong fell to 2 losses, while Taiwan and Thailand each recorded 1 win and 1 loss.
The number to note from this victory is not just the 13 runs, but the fact that Korea did not allow the opponent to reach base even once. Because this was a record created jointly by six pitchers, including Seong Yeong-tak, it cannot be explained solely as an individual pitcher’s outstanding performance; it was an achievement by the national team’s entire pitching staff.
Reference
Tags #SeongYeongtak #KIATigers #KoreanNationalBaseballTeam #AsianGames #AichiNagoyaAsianGames #HongKongGame #TeamPerfectGame #NationalBaseballTeam #ToyohashiMunicipalBaseballStadium #RyuJihyeon #NoHitsAllowed #ColdGame