Woori Financial Capital and Harin, the Round 1 champion and runner-up of the PBA Team League, both opened Round 2 with victories Wednesday.
At the Hwaseong General Sports Town indoor gymnasium in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, Woori Financial Capital defeated Hana Card 4-0 in the first match of the Welcome Savings Bank PBA Team League Hwaseong Special City Tour 2026-2027 Round 2. Harin also swept Breakers 4-0 to claim their first win of the round.
Woori Financial Capital, which claimed the Round 1 title, showed it had lost none of its edge in Round 2. In Set 1, Kang Min-gu and Eom Sang-pil trailed Nguyen Quoc Nguyen (Vietnam) and Shin Jeong-ju 1-3 heading into the fifth inning before combining for a 10-point high run to win 11-3. In Set 2, Sruong Pheavy (Cambodia) and Jang Ga-yeon led Kim Ga-young and Kim Jin-a 6-4 but conceded the equalizer in the 10th inning, only to seal a 9-6 win with a three-ball finish in the 11th, giving Woori Financial Capital a 2-0 set lead.
Woori Financial Capital wrapped up Set 3 in a single decisive blow. Hana Card's Murat Naci Coklu (Turkey) overturned a 6-8 deficit with two points in the seventh inning to lead 9-8, but Woori Financial Capital's David Zapata (Spain) responded with a seven-point high run in the same inning to win 15-9 and push the set score to 3-0. In Set 4, Lee Sang-dae and Kim Min-young edged Coklu and Han Seul-gi 9-7 in seven innings to complete the sweep.
Harin, the Round 1 runner-up, were equally dominant in their 4-0 sweep of Breakers. The Vietnamese duo of Nguyen Phuong Linh and Tran Duc Minh set the tone in Set 1, defeating Lee Seung-jin and Oh Seong-uk 11-9 in eight innings. Park Jeong-hyeon and Kim Sang-a then dispatched Hida Orie (Japan) and Im Gyeong-jin 9-3 in seven innings in Set 2 to make it 2-0.
Harin completed the sweep in the final two sets: rising star Kim Yeong-won beat Oh Seong-uk 15-9 in nine innings in Set 3, while Im Wan-seop and Jeong Bo-yun blanked Lee Seung-jin and Im Gyeong-jin 9-0 in just three innings in Set 4. Breakers, meanwhile, extended their losing streak to nine matches, tying the team league record for consecutive losses set by Crown Haitai last season.
yjc@heraldcorp.com
