TOKYO — It has been so long since Korea last played a win-or-go-home game at a World Baseball Classic (WBC) tournament — 17 years, to be exact — that many of the players on this year's squad were barely old enough to have any memories of the country's run to the championship final. At each of the next three editions, 2013, 2017 and 2023, Korea failed to make it out of the first round, never even sniffing a title. And the country lost its first games on all three occasions and could never climb out of those early holes. This year, armed with young sluggers who aren't haunted by those ghosts and hurlers who will pump fastballs like it's nothing, Korea will seek to play some meaningful games deeper into March. Managed by Ryu Ji-hyun, a former star shortstop and longtime national team coach, Korea will begin its Pool C action at 7 p.m. Thursday against Czechia at Tokyo Dome. Up next will be the defending champion Japan at 7 p.m. Saturday, Chinese Taipei at noon Sunday and Australia at 7 p.m. Monday. The top two teams from each of the four groups will reach the quarterfinals set for nex