It’s safe to call it a balance game epic fail. While one side went on a winning streak, the other side didn’t win a single game all round. The team that was considered the favorite to win the season has fallen apart.
On Nov. 21, Eswai defeated the Huons 4-3 (11-6, 9-4, 8-15, 9-8, 1-11, 4-9, 11-4) in Game 8 of the third round of the Welcome Savings Bank PBA Team League 2023-24 at the Kintex PBA Stadium in Goyang.
The Huons were unable to capitalize on their one point victory. They were desperate enough to take the match against Eswai to a full set, but all they got was a loss.
Eswai was diligent from the start. Sanchez-Park In-soo took advantage of five high-run points to defeat Palazon-Choi Sung-won 11-6 in five innings. In the women’s doubles, Han Ji-Eun and Han Seul-Ki swept past Kim Se-Yeon and Jang Ga-Yeon in straight sets, giving Eswai both the first and second sets.
Still undefeated on the day, the Huons got a boost from Seigner against Sanchez. However, Eswai’s pair of Hwang Duk-hee and Lee Woo-kyung narrowly edged out Palazon-Jang Ga-yeon in a 14-inning tiebreaker, 9-8.
The Hawks once again tried to pull off an upset. Captain Choi Sung-won made up for his bitter taste in the air with an 11-1 victory over Park In-soo, and Kim Se-yeon took a 9-4 lead to send the match to a full set. However, in the final game, Lee Young-hoon swept Kim Bong-chul 11-4, and the Huons were unable to complete their first win of the round.
After three rounds, the Huons only have two points. They sit at the bottom of the standings with a whopping five points behind eighth-place Eswai (7 points). They are also last in the overall regular season standings with 26 points.
On the other hand, the undisputed leader, the NHK Card, swept Welcome Savings Bank in straight sets, 4-0, and a shutout, leaving them with just one game to play in the third round.
The stats of the game are also overwhelming. In the long game alone, there were back-to-back ‘7-7-7’ jackpots. Starting with the men’s doubles team of Cho Jae-ho and Kim Hyun-woo, who scored seven runs in three innings against Wimaz and Kim Im-kwon in the first set, Kim Min-ah and Kim Bomi also scored seven runs in two innings to secure a 9-0 victory.
Jo Jae-ho then came back in and scored another seven runs to make it 15-7 after five innings, and the final mixed doubles pairing of Oh Sung-wook and Kim Bo-mi completed the sweep with a 9-8 victory over Seo Hyun-min and Choi Hye-mi.
Currently, the NHL Cards are in sole possession of first place in the overall regular season standings with 54 points, and they are at the top of the standings with 19 points after three rounds and a stellar 7-0 record in seven games.토토사이트
Elsewhere, Blue One Resort snapped a long losing streak with a 4-1 set win over Haiwon Resort. Crown HaeTae, who is currently tied for first place with the NHL Card and actually has the best chance of earning a postseason (P.S.) ticket for this round, defeated SK Rent-a-Car 4-2.
Meanwhile, on the final day of the third round, the 22nd, Hana Card-Wellcome Savings Bank will face off at 12:30 p.m., followed by Blue One Resort-Huonce at 3:30 p.m., NHK Card-Crown HaeTae at 6:30 p.m., and Eswai-SK Rent-a-Car at 9:30 p.m.