Following Ahn Se-young and Chen Yufei, Kang Baek-ho and Liu Zhizhong showed their friendship and sportsmanship across borders.
On the 13th, Liu Zhi Long posted a post on his Instagram saying, “Friend, it’s been a long time. We haven’t seen each other for almost six years.”
“I was so excited when I found out you were going to the Asian Games,” he added.
“I knew you were stressed before we met,” he continued, “so I wanted to hug you and support you every time we met, even if it wasn’t through language.”
“As a teammate of the opposing team, I was disappointed that you won, but as a friend, I was happy to see you relaxed after the game,” Liu Zhilong said.
“Let’s work hard for the baseball we love. Let’s play on a better stage next time. See you again.” He concluded the post.
Liu Zhiqiong himself translated the message into Korean, which drew attention.
The accompanying photo showed a two-shot of Liu and Kang Baek-ho, who also shared videos of himself in Taiwan in 2016 and at the 19th Hangzhou Asian Games.
In response, Kang Baek-ho wrote, “Thank you, love you, and proud of you, my friend.”
Netizens commented on their cross-border friendship, saying, “It must have been hard for you, but I’m touched by the warmth you translated and posted, and I’m so grateful that a good person is by your side,” “You two are really close, Baekho, happy baseball,” and “Baseball is romance.”
In the preliminary round of the 19th Hangzhou Asian Games, South Korea defeated Hong Kong and Thailand by more than 10 runs, but lost to Chinese Taipei 0:4.
After defeating Japan and China in the Super Round, South Korea reached the final and won the gold medal with a 2:0 victory over Chinese Taipei.
Kang Baek-ho was heavily criticised by the media for chewing gum at the Tokyo Olympics and then for a boneheaded play at the WBC that resulted in him being called out during a ceremony.
However, he shook off his early slump at the Asian Games with a cool home run.
Liu Zhilong is a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox’ Double-A team, and he has been dominant at the Asian Games. 슬롯게이밍