Tokyo: Batting cleanup in a lineup for a team hoping to go deep into the World Baseball Classic (WBC) can put a ton of pressure on most players, but South Korean slugger Ahn Hyun-min isn't apparently one of them. "I know the importance of hitting cleanup for the national team but I am not feeling any pressure," Ahn said Thursday at his pregame press conference before playing Czechia to begin Pool C play at Tokyo Dome. "I've had to prove myself since high school, and I am confident I can do it again. My primary goal is to keep playing with confidence and I will try to stick to that."

According to Yonhap News Agency, Ahn, 22, said he has been having a blast preparing for his WBC debut and he was itching to get going. "I feel so great physically. It won't be an exaggeration to say I am in midseason form," Ahn said. "I am not nervous. I am expecting some big things from myself and it's going to be fun to play in the first game."

Ahn was still fulfilling his mandatory military service during the last WBC in 2023. And that's when Ahn, the 2025 Korea Baseball Organization Rookie of the Year, began nurturing dreams of making the national team for the 2026 WBC. "I know it was a pipe dream at that point in my life and I heard people tell me that, too. But I trusted myself," Ahn said. "And my preparation from that point has gone better than I expected. I had some challenges along the way but I never lost faith. I am extremely happy to be here, and it allows me to dream bigger dreams for the future."

Ahn said he agreed with manager Ryu Ji-hyu's earlier assessment that this group is the greatest South Korean national baseball team ever assembled. "I think we have an energetic team with bottomless potential," Ahn said. "We can't wait to find out just how far we can go. We all want to win all four games here."

As for any pregame message he wanted to share with his teammates, Ahn said, "I am one of the younger guys here. Rather than say anything to the guys, I want to let my play do the talking."