WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC: POOL C - AUSTRALIA VS CZECHIA

March 5, 2026

Marek Chlup

Daniel Padysak

Tokyo Dome

Team Czechia

Pregame Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Question for Mr. Chlup. You signed with the Tokyo Giants, and I think the Tokyo Dome is familiar with you. This was your ex-home. How do you feel about returning to Tokyo and play again at your former home stadium? And for Mr. Padysak, you are going to be a probable start for tomorrow's big game against Australia. How do you feel right now?

MAREK CHLUP: So I'm looking forward to the games here in the Tokyo Dome. I had a chance to play couple of games here last year during Spring Training, and also I've been here at the practice few times. Like you said, I'm familiar with the stadium. I was looking forward to come back and play here with my teammates.

You know, we've been here. Three years ago we played good baseball last time, so we're looking forward to doing it again this year.

DANIEL PADYSAK: Yeah, and I'm really excited to be back here as well. It's been three years. You know, we've all been looking forward to this. I'm really excited that Pavel had confidence in me to start the game against Korea. I will do my very best to help my team win, and we have a great group of guys, and I'm really excited to see what we can do on the field.

Q. Question for Daniel. Have you had a chance to maybe see Korea's last couple of games in Osaka? If you did, what did you think of the lineup that they had out? If you haven't had a chance to see them, anything kind of stuck out for you as far as their lineup, starting their roster?

DANIEL PADYSAK: Yes, I watched the games, and I think they have a really talented team. They have a lot of great players. A lot of good hitters, good swings. We did a little bit of scouting report and I watched the games, and I was impressed to see what they can do. Let's see how they compare against us tomorrow. I think it will be a great game.

Q. So both of you have played in Japan now, and I'm very curious, what have you learned and what changed about your game? How does training compare to what you maybe were used to in Czechia? What styles have you learned, and what are things you're going to use this week in Tokyo Dome again?

MAREK CHLUP: So for me playing here I have to say I learned a lot, and it gave me great experience for tournaments like this where you play bunch of different teams. For example, we play teams from Australia. We also play teams from Asia. There is different styles of baseball, each team that plays.

I think it gives me advantage, because I play professional in U.S. and also in Japan, and both these countries play different style of baseball. The pitchers are a little different, so in a tournament like this I think it's important to make adjustments day by day, game by game. Especially where we play two games in less than 24 hours, like tomorrow and the next day.

I think it could be advantage for both of us.

DANIEL PADYSAK: Yeah, and for me playing here in Japan I learned a lot as well. It gave me a lot of insights. Met a lot of great people and learned a lot not just about baseball, but about the culture as well. Made some great connections.

Yeah, it gave me a lot of experience. You know, even though my season was not the longest here in Japan, but yeah, it was a great time and learned a lot for sure.

Q. Question for both of you. Years ago when you played at this it was Czech Republic's first time in this tournament. How has Czech Republic baseball grown and developed since then?

MAREK CHLUP: I think the level of baseball in Czech Republic definitely grew since last time we played here. Us advancing to the main tournament definitely helped in the Czech Republic, because you can start seeing baseball on TV in Czech. I think more children and more people definitely want to be involved in baseball. They now see it as sport that's on a high level.

If they watch the games that we play here, they can see that it's possible to play on a high level. That helped baseball in Czech grow.

I think this time there was definitely more players from which the manager could choose the roster, so that's a good sign why I think our team is better for this year.

DANIEL PADYSAK: Yeah, and I would definitely agree. I think the game of baseball in Czech definitely has grown a lot. You know, we see people being interested more in it. A lot of kids playing baseball. I think me and Marek, we both just want to pass it on to the next generations and just make it a better sport, you know, back home.

Just want to leave it better than you found it, and that's what we're doing out here.