[Sports Today reporter Kang Tae-gu] Moon Bo-kyung, who helped South Korea reach the quarterfinals of the 2026 World Baseball Classic, has been targeted by Taiwanese fans on social media.
South Korea defeated Australia 7-2 in the final C‑pool game at the Tokyo Dome on the 9th.
The win left Korea 2-2 and, against long odds, clinched second place and a spot in the second round behind Japan.
It was a dramatic finish. Korea, Taiwan and Australia all finished 2-2 in Pool C, and each team was 1-1 in head-to-head play. Officials therefore used the ratio of runs allowed to outs recorded in the games among the three teams to determine the standings.
Each team gave up seven runs in the head-to-head matchups, but Korea had played 19 innings—one more than Australia and Taiwan—so its runs-allowed rate was the lowest.
After losing 4-5 to Taiwan in an extra‑inning thriller the day before, Korea not only had to beat Australia but also had to hold them to two runs or fewer and win by at least five runs.
Despite those steep requirements, Korea punched a charter flight to Miami, and Moon Bo-kyung was the game’s standout.
Moon finished 3-for-5 with a home run and four RBIs against Australia. Still, some Taiwanese fans criticized his final plate appearance in the top of the ninth.
With Ahn Hyun-min’s sacrifice putting a runner on first, Moon came to the plate with two outs in the top of the ninth and struck out on a three-pitch at-bat. Korea did not need any more runs; conceding a run in the bottom of the ninth would have cost them a spot in the quarterfinals regardless of how many runs they added.
Korea also planned to bring Jo Byung-hyun back out for the ninth after he pitched the eighth, so finishing the inning quickly to keep his arm warm was a sensible move.
From Taiwan’s viewpoint, if Korea scored eight runs while Australia scored three, Korea would advance on the runs-allowed tiebreaker, so some fans understandably found Moon’s plate appearance frustrating.
But the reaction crossed the line. Taiwanese fans flooded Moon’s social media with taunts like “no sportsmanship” and “this is disgusting — you have no sporting spirit.”
At the same time, several Taiwanese fans apologized on behalf of those lacking sportsmanship and urged others not to let this behavior damage Taiwan’s image.
[Sports Today reporter Kang Tae-gu sports@stoo.com]
「The closest, most fun news ⓒ Sports Today」
South Korea defeated Australia 7-2 in the final C‑pool game at the Tokyo Dome on the 9th.
The win left Korea 2-2 and, against long odds, clinched second place and a spot in the second round behind Japan.
It was a dramatic finish. Korea, Taiwan and Australia all finished 2-2 in Pool C, and each team was 1-1 in head-to-head play. Officials therefore used the ratio of runs allowed to outs recorded in the games among the three teams to determine the standings.
Each team gave up seven runs in the head-to-head matchups, but Korea had played 19 innings—one more than Australia and Taiwan—so its runs-allowed rate was the lowest.
After losing 4-5 to Taiwan in an extra‑inning thriller the day before, Korea not only had to beat Australia but also had to hold them to two runs or fewer and win by at least five runs.
Despite those steep requirements, Korea punched a charter flight to Miami, and Moon Bo-kyung was the game’s standout.
Moon finished 3-for-5 with a home run and four RBIs against Australia. Still, some Taiwanese fans criticized his final plate appearance in the top of the ninth.
With Ahn Hyun-min’s sacrifice putting a runner on first, Moon came to the plate with two outs in the top of the ninth and struck out on a three-pitch at-bat. Korea did not need any more runs; conceding a run in the bottom of the ninth would have cost them a spot in the quarterfinals regardless of how many runs they added.
Korea also planned to bring Jo Byung-hyun back out for the ninth after he pitched the eighth, so finishing the inning quickly to keep his arm warm was a sensible move.
From Taiwan’s viewpoint, if Korea scored eight runs while Australia scored three, Korea would advance on the runs-allowed tiebreaker, so some fans understandably found Moon’s plate appearance frustrating.
But the reaction crossed the line. Taiwanese fans flooded Moon’s social media with taunts like “no sportsmanship” and “this is disgusting — you have no sporting spirit.”
At the same time, several Taiwanese fans apologized on behalf of those lacking sportsmanship and urged others not to let this behavior damage Taiwan’s image.
[Sports Today reporter Kang Tae-gu sports@stoo.com]
「The closest, most fun news ⓒ Sports Today」
