South Korea Needs Japan to Beat Australia to Stay in APBC Tournament

South Korea needs a victory from Japan against Australia to keep its tournament alive at the 2026 Asian Professional Baseball Championship.

Choi Won-ho leads South Korea at the bottom of standings

Choi Won-ho leads a squad currently sitting at the bottom of the four-team round-robin standings after suffering consecutive defeats at Tokyo Dome. Australia and Chinese Taipei share identical records following early-round play.

South Korea dropped a 9-5 decision to Japan on Wednesday, according to tournament reports. That loss followed an 8-7 collapse against Australia on Tuesday.

Two straight losses in Tokyo

Starting pitcher Kim Jin-wook worked five frames and surrendered two runs against the Japanese lineup, which capitalized with four home runs. The bullpen faltered late as reliever Kim Young-woo yielded a decisive three-run shot to Riku Sosama in the eighth inning.

“We missed chances,” Choi told reporters regarding the consecutive bullpen collapses in Tokyo.

Han Dong-hee delivered an RBI hit and Kim Whee-jig launched a 120-meter tying home run in the eighth frame before the defense unraveled. South Korea enters Thursday’s finale facing an 11-year international winless skid against Japan in professional brackets.

South Korea needs specific results to advance

Advancement depends entirely on a Japanese victory over Australia in the noon fixture on Thursday, followed by a regulation win for South Korea against Chinese Taipei that evening. If Australia defeats Japan, South Korea is eliminated regardless of its own result.

A Japanese victory creates a three-way tie at 1-2 between South Korea, Chinese Taipei, and Australia, bringing the Team Quality Balance formula into play. The formula calculates runs per offensive inning minus runs allowed per defensive inning across all three preliminary games.