'I'm sorry I couldn't live up to expectations at all'

Kim Do-young of South Korea roars after hitting a go-ahead single in the top of the eighth inning with two outs and runners on first and third base during the gold-medal game against Japan at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games at Toyohashi City Baseball Stadium in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, on Sunday. [Yonhap]
Kim Do-young of South Korea roars after hitting a go-ahead single in the top of the eighth inning with two outs and runners on first and third base during the gold-medal game against Japan at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games at Toyohashi City Baseball Stadium in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, on Sunday. [Yonhap]

Kim Do-young delivered the game-winning hit to clinch baseball gold, but the 22-year-old KIA Tigers infielder could not bring himself to celebrate. He made no effort to hide his disappointment with his own performance throughout the tournament.

Kim went 2-for-5 with one RBI Sunday as South Korea defeated Japan 3-1 in the baseball final at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games at Toyohashi City Baseball Stadium in Aichi Prefecture, Japan.

With the score tied 1-1, Kim stepped up with two outs and runners on first and third in the top of the eighth inning and slapped a sharp grounder past the third baseman for an infield single, putting South Korea ahead 2-1. Moon Bo-kyung then added an RBI single to center to extend the lead to 3-1, and Park Young-hyun closed out the game to seal the gold medal.

Kim had flied out to left field with the bases loaded and two outs in the second inning, making his go-ahead hit in the eighth all the more cathartic. "I knew it was a decisive moment," he said. "If another disappointing at-bat had happened, it could have deflated the mood. I felt more desperate and put myself with my back against the wall before stepping into the box."

The tournament was not an easy one for Kim. On Sept. 9, during a game just before joining the national team, he was struck in the face by his own bunt and suffered a broken nose. He underwent surgery, returned to play for his club on Sept. 13 and joined the national squad the following day.

Kim leads the KBO League this season with 40 home runs, but across six games at the Asian Games he batted .250 (6-for-24) with four RBIs and five runs scored. He hit two doubles but no home runs. The decisive hit in the final came too late to fully redeem what had been, by his own standards, a frustrating tournament.

"I'm happy we won gold, but I feel unsettled," Kim said. "I'm so sorry to the manager, the coaches, my teammates and the fans. I think expectations for me were much higher, and I couldn't live up to them at all. I felt that I still have a long way to go."

"I felt like I need to start over from scratch," he added. "Even with a gold medal as the result, I was disappointed in myself. At least this tournament has become another opportunity for me to grow — that's the one positive I can take from it. If I'm given another chance at an international competition, I want to make up for it."


yjc@heraldcorp.com