Baseball in Laos is a miracle. Ten years after former SK coach Lee Man-soo (65) sowed the ‘baseball seed’ in Laos, it has paid off in a big way. One win at the Asian Games.
Laos beat Singapore 8-7 in a baseball qualifier for the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games on Sunday at the Xiaoxing Baseball and Softball Center in Zhejiang, China. They scored five runs in the sixth inning.
They had lost to Thailand 1-4 the day before. But today, they set the tone by beating Singapore, improving their chances of qualifying. The Thailand-Singapore game remains, but Thailand is expected to win.
Coach Lee Man-soo was in tears. It has been 10 years since he traveled to the unfamiliar country of Laos to spread baseball. He is now bringing baseball to Vietnam. “I’ve worked harder than anyone else, so I’m happy to see this victory. He said, “My goal is to win one Asian Games. That dream has been realized.
Coach Lee Mansoo said, “Everyone had a great attitude. Lao culture is not like this. It’s amazing to watch. I thought, ‘Can we really win? We did,” he said.
“I was sitting in the coaches’ room with no one around, and I just cried and cried. For the Lao national team and for me, the first win in international competition is more valuable than any other win. I didn’t cry when I won the World Series or when I won the triple championship as a player. This time, the tears flowed endlessly,” he explained.
Below is the full message from Lee.
After losing to Thailand yesterday (26th), today’s (27th) game against the Singaporean team had a great attitude from the coaching staff to the players, who were ready to die on the field. Above all, the Lao culture is not like this, so I don’t know how many times she is surprised to see the players’ behavior these days.
To be honest, when we were competing in the Hangzhou Asian Games in China, we didn’t think much about beating Thailand or Singapore. During interviews and when I talked to my friends, I was loudly saying that I would definitely win my first victory at the Hangzhou Asian Games, but could I beat Thailand or Singapore?
However, after watching the game against Thailand yesterday (26th), I feel confident that we can beat Singapore tomorrow (27th) because, as I wrote on my Facebook page yesterday, athletes have no choice but to go to the front line to earn a living for themselves and their families after graduating from college.
So when they reach a certain level of skill, they have to stop playing baseball and start working to support their families. We know this so well that some players have been playing for five or six years, while others have only been playing for one or two years. 메이저놀이터
Knowing the quality of the players, it is a very big mountain to climb to get our first victories against Thailand and Singapore.
But with my life philosophy of “Never ever give up” attitude, I was with them on the baseball field, shouting and punching them in the chest to encourage them. “You can do it,” “We will surely win the first victory,” I would shout “Suu” in Lao and “Fighting” in Korean, and the players would follow along and shout loudly.