Rain couldn’t dampen the enthusiasm of Deaf baseball players.
The 14th Sun Dong Yeolbae OK National Deaf Baseball Tournament, held at KT Wiz Park in Suwon on the 27th, ended in a tie for first place due to rain in the morning. Although the tournament was not completed, the deaf baseball players who participated in the tournament did not lose their smiles in the rain and enjoyed the festivities on the field.
The 14th Sun Dong Yeolbae OK National Deaf Baseball Tournament ended with the Ansan Willows and the Cheongju Dragon Eyes sharing the title. The Ansan Willows advanced to the finals with a 14-8 win over the Jeonbuk DefDinos in Game 1 of the semifinals, while the Cheongju DragonEars advanced to the finals through a lottery after their Game 2 semifinal against the Daegu Hawkeyes was rained out.
Sun Dong-yeol, who started the tournament in 2010 and has been sponsoring the tournament under his name since 2019, said, “It’s really unfortunate that the tournament was canceled due to rain, as the deaf athletes must have worked hard for 안전놀이터 a year to prepare for this tournament.” “It was a good time to see the passion of the athletes after a long time. I hope that the tournament will be more active so that more baseball fans can enjoy their great passion in the future.”
At the tournament, Kim Kwon-se of the Ansan Willows received the Sun Dong-yeol Pitcher Award. The MVP award went to Lee Hwang-ho of the Cheongju Dragon Eyes. The Best Pitcher Award went to Kim Young-nam (Cheongju Dragon Eyes), the Best Hitter Award went to Kim Sung-do (Ansan Willows), the Best Coach Award went to Jang Young-tae (Cheongju Dragon Eyes), and the Best Coach Award went to Seo Seung-il (Ansan Willows).
Lee Hun-kyu of the Cheongju Dragon Eyes won the Home Run Award and Kim Gun-ho of the Daegu Hawkeyes won the Migi Award. The Fair Play Award went to Yoon Young-sun of the Jeonbuk Defiantos. Chungju Sacred Heart School won the Challenge Group, with Kim Sung-hoon receiving the Best Challenge Award.
The 14th National Baseball Tournament for the Deaf has been sponsored by OK Financial Group since 2010, and in this 14th edition, eight teams from across the country participated in the preliminary round. Target Welllife and Bobae Banjang were added as new sponsors this year to further enrich the tournament for deaf players.
“When I watch the deaf athletes compete, I can feel their care for each other. They have their own order, and above all, they are very passionate.” “Their passion for baseball is second to none. I’m always learning and realizing from them. I hope their passion will continue to grow in the future.”