WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC: POOL C - CZECHIA VS KOREA

March 5, 2026

Pavel Chadim

Tokyo Dome

Team Czechia

Pregame Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We have our pregame press conference for Team Czechia. Mr. Pavel Chadim the manager for the national team.

Q. Yesterday one of your pitchers got injured, hurt. Is he okay? Also, if you indicate who is opening starter for tomorrow's opening game and the reason why you choose. If you could name, please.

PAVEL CHADIM: Thanks for question. Lukas Hlouch yesterday's pitcher who was hit by the ear, it looks good. He didn't know, but it was not straight to the ear, but it was hit to right shoulder and to ear, and I think it help him a lot. That's the first thing.

For tomorrow, our plan is start with righty Dan Padysak.

Q. Why?

PAVEL CHADIM: (Laughter) He's our best pitcher.

Q. This year your uniform has changed with some Japanese characters on it. If you could explain why, because it looks pretty cool to us.

PAVEL CHADIM: You mean Spring Training uniform? I think in Miyakonojo and Miyazaki, I think it's something, like, respect to Japanese fans, Japanese baseball. Respect to country who help us a lot the last three years.

We feel a relationship good with Japanese fans, and it's easier for them to read it.

Q. So can you please indicate who was the idea of putting Japanese letter on your uniform, if you could?

PAVEL CHADIM: My PR chief, Lukas Ercoli, by the way, lefty pitcher.

Q. Since the last World Baseball Classic we've seen Czech Republic work with Samurai Japan playing games. We've seen Czech Republic work with the (indiscernible) on a partnership. You have Marek who made it to the Giants. Now we have a couple of Japanese players who are playing in the Czech league. What are your thoughts about the relationship between Czech Republic and Japan and baseball and how basically the World Basic Classic helped to foster that and what that means for a country like Czech Republic to have basically the No. 1 baseball nation in the world, having this close relationship and ties with you?

PAVEL CHADIM: It's unbelievable honor for us. It's something amazing. I don't know if we can honestly just think about it, not just to do. We cannot forget for Hideki Kuriyama, manager of Japanese champion, who came to Czechia before European championship, wished us good luck for European champion and help us a lot.

It opened the door. We play with not just Samurai Japan, with Korea, Taiwan, University Japan National Team was on Prague baseball team, the famous European tournament all these 45 years all tournament and so many, so many, so many things.

We are so grateful, and we have to say thank you, thank you. You can say thousand time, and it's not enough.

Q. You play Korean team twice last year. Both teams have slightly different rosters this time around. If you saw them, what did you see from Korean team the last two exhibition games? How are you going to approach tomorrow's game compared to the ones you played in November last year?

PAVEL CHADIM: It was great games for us, and what I see, like manager or like Pavel Chadim, I saw big effort from Korean side to be back on the top.

I saw that everything in Korean baseball work together, manager, KBO, players, organization. I have big respect of it because I know how hard is it to go up if you are down.

I wish them all best, but not tomorrow.

Q. Most of your players are part-time, and I understand that you are a brain surgeon in your normal work. Can you explain the sacrifices that the players have to make to play a tournament like this? Can you also explain why baseball is so popular in the Czech Republic? Why the Czech Republic, but not countries around about Austria, Hungary?

PAVEL CHADIM: I am just neurologist (laughter). That's the first.

From one side it's interesting that we are amateurs, and we can play -- or we will play with professionals. I think it will be interesting battle, battle between professional and amateurs. We will see if fans will be interested in.

It's thin world between -- let's say it will be fun, it will be interesting, and if all of people will think they are not on the right place here. It's not easy I think for us to show that in international baseball we can play together, but support for us is that it's not -- it's not just our mission.

I feel that's a mission for other countries, like you said, Austria, Germany, France and if they will see that we can do it. I think this is just question of time.

It means ten years ago -- ten years ago in Czechia, and now it's better and better. But it's about work, hard work. It's easy to say, but hard to show. If you sleep, you cannot count anything better.

We work hard on European Championship two years ago. We had right now first-ever historic European bronze medal after 30 years trying. And I think in other European countries it's possible too, but I think that how we will play here, it will be a little bit speed-up for them.

If they see that we can play, they will have more and more motivation. That's my view of this.

Q. So when were here in 2023, it was the team's first time in Tokyo. It was all new. What has that experience in the last three years changed for you as a manager, and how does your approach change when you know what you're going into right now?

PAVEL CHADIM: It's not easy to answer. Question is easy, but the answer is not easy. From one side I knew and my players knew what we can expected, but what the big change is, this is a group that we don't have China here. We have Chinese Taipei. It's not easy to imagine to play with four top-10 teams and three from top-4 team in the world.

Some morning I am brave, and some morning I want to run home to Europe (smiling).