426mm all-time heavy rain Gwangju rain stopped, ground maintenance has begun...Will it be possible to start the game

Jul 19, 2025

Gwangju Kia Champions Field on the 19th. The tarp is still full of water. Officials are looking at the ground condition. Gwangju = Reporter Kim Min-kyung

Can we avoid canceling rain for three consecutive days.

KIA Tigers and NC Dinos are scheduled to play Game 8 of the season between the teams '2025 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League' at Gwangju Kia Champions Field on the 19th. KIA will start with James Nail and NC will start with Riley Thompson. It's a showdown between the ace players.

Nail and Riley only prepare for their second consecutive appearance on the 17th and 18th I couldn't play. This is because there was an all-time downpour in the Gwangju area. On the 17th, Gwangju's daily precipitation recorded 426mm. It was the highest ever since the Korea Meteorological Administration's observation.

It continued to rain on the 18th, making it difficult to proceed with the game for two consecutive days. Sinan-dong and Yongbong-dong in Buk-gu, Gwangju, near the stadium were severely damaged by flooding. The safety of spectators visiting the stadium had to be considered as well.

As of 2 p.m. on the 19th, it has not rained. However, the ground is still wet due to heavy rain until the morning. The pre-installed tarpaulin has a lot of water, and the floor of the stands has rainwater.

Gwangju Kia Champions Field stands where rainwater is still accumulating. Gwangju = Reporter Kim Min-kyung

KIA ground maintenance officials first checked the tarpaulin and checked the ground condition, and now they are away with the tarpaulin covered. The home team KIA team is currently not raining, but they have decided to train indoors.

KIA officials predict that if there is no more rain in the future, the game will be able to start after the ground maintenance. The ground is already very wet and there is a lot of rainwater, so if it rains more here, maintenance will be difficult.

It is not easy to predict whether more rain will fall because the forecast is changing in real time. The Korea Meteorological Administration expected 50 to 100mm of rain (more than 200mm in many places) in Gwangju.