South Korea Beat Japan 3-1 for Fifth Straight Asian Games Baseball Gold

South Korea beat hosts Japan 3-1 in the men's baseball final at Toyohashi Municipal Baseball Stadium. It is their fifth straight Asian Games gold.

Korea led after the second inning. Japan levelled in the seventh after two singles off starter Gwak Been. Gwak was superb otherwise. He threw 6 1/3 innings, allowed one run and struck out nine.

The game turned in the eighth. Kim Do-yeong hit a go-ahead RBI infield single. Moon Bo-gyeong then added an insurance run with a single. Relievers Jo Byeong-hyeon and Park Yeong-hyun closed out the win. Korea finished with 12 hits and 15 strikeouts as a staff.

The win was also revenge. Japan had beaten Korea 5-0 in the Super Round two days earlier. This is Korea's seventh Asian Games baseball title overall. The streak started at Guangzhou 2010 and ran through Incheon 2014, Jakarta-Palembang 2018 and Hangzhou 2022.

Chinese Taipei took bronze. China finished fourth.