'Ryu Joong-il's biggest enemy' Japan announces final entry for Premier 12 except for Sasaki, 165km
Oct 09, 2024
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The Japanese national baseball team 'Samurai Japan' officially announced the final entry of 'Premier12'28 to be held next month on the 9th. While a number of key Yomiuri Giants players, including Kazuma Okamoto (Yomiuri), Shosei Togo (Yomiuri) and Daisei (Yomiuri), who will be the fourth batter of the national team, Munetaka Murakami (Yakurt), who suffered a toe fracture, Roki Sasaki (Chiba Lotte), a fastball monster pitcher who has been in poor condition throughout this season, and Kensuke Kondo (Softbank), who has been injured, failed to board.
On the reason why he did not select Sasaki, Japanese national team coach Hirokazu Ibata said, "He is a player who already knows his skills. But in other ways, there are pitchers who have shown good performances this season. I didn't pick him this time because he was injured during the season", he explained.
In addition, Hotaka Yamakawa (Softbank), the winner of the WBC and the Pacific League's home run king, also failed to make the entry. Yamakawa is natural to be elected to the national team in terms of his skills, but he seems to have not been selected due to privacy issues, such as being accused of sexual assault as well as allegations of infidelity last year.
Four Yomiuri, who won the Central League, were selected, and Hanshin's 'Shinsung'Saiki Hiroto and Morishita Shota will wear national uniforms for the first time since their debut. Manami Chusei, a mixed-race outfielder for the Nippon Ham Fighters who was born to a Congolese father and a Japanese mother, was also named. Ten players were selected among the players who participated in the Asian Professional Baseball Championship (APBC) last year.
Meanwhile, the Japanese national team will play a warm-up match against the Czech Republic at the Banterin Dome in Nagoya, Japan, on November 9-10, and an opening match against Australia at the Banterin Dome on November 13. After that, he moved to Taipei, Taiwan, where he will face the South Korean national team led by head coach Ryu Joong-il at Taipei Dome on the 15th, and is scheduled to play against Taiwan on the 16th, Cuba on the 17th, and the Dominican Republic on the 18th.
◇Premier 12 Final Entry for the Japanese national team
▶ Pitcher
Daisei (Yomi-ri)
Chihiro Sumida (Seibu)
Ito Hiromi (Nihonham)
Hiroto Takahashi (Chunichi)
Shosei Dogo (Yomiuri)
Takahisa Hayakawa (Rakuten)
Hiroto Saiki (Hanshin)
Fujihara Shoma (Rakuten)
Shota Suzuki (Chiba Lotte)
Tatsuya Shimizu (Chunichi)
Suzuki Sora (Rakuten)
Koki Kitayama (Nihonham)
Yokoyama Rikuto (Chiba Lotte)
▶Absorption
Go Yuto (Seibu)
Shogo Sakakura (Hiroshima)
Toshiya Sato (Chiba Lotte)
▶ an infielder
Makishugo (Yokohama)
Naoki Yoshikawa (Yomiuri)
Genda Sauceke (Seibu)
Ryuya Kurihara (Softbank)
Gotaro Gurebayashi (Orix)
Kazuma Okamoto (Yomiuri)
Gozo no Kaito (Hiroshima)
▶ Outdoor field
Shota Morissita (Hanshin)
Ryota Isovata (Nihonham)
Sano Keita (Yokohama)
Ryosuke Tatsumi (Rakuten)
Manami Chusei (Nihonham)
youll@sportschosun.com
