Baseball

A draw is conducted for the National Baseball Club Cup which will be held in Hà Nội on July 26-30. — VNS Photo Quý Lượng

HÀ NỘI — The National Baseball Club Cup will be held on July 26-30 at the Hà Nội's Mỹ Đình Sports Complex.

The tournament, which lures 11 clubs from HCM City, Hà Nội and Đà Nẵng, is one of the largest events in the country to promote the baseball movement.

The Việt Nam Baseball and Softball Federation said all 220 athletes are Vietnamese. There will be another tournament for foreigners, who are generally at a higher level than locals, in the near future. Furthermore, there will be tournaments in which local and international players can play together.

In addition to prizes for the top three teams, the organisers will present awards to MVP, best catcher and best pitcher. Outstanding players will be named in the best-12 squad.

"Baseball is a new sport in Việt Nam but it has been strongly developed in many countries including South Korea and Japan in Asia," said Trần Đức Phấn, president of the Việt Nam Baseball and Softball Federation.

"We organised the first championship last year in HCM City. This is a privately invested sport that we manage and develop without support from the Government and sports authority. In the future, if baseball is welcomed and grows well in the community, we will ask for the State's assistance," said Phấn.

Phấn added that in Southeast Asia, there are seven countries including the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand playing this sport. Việt Nam's baseball team once took part in the 2011 SEA Games but since then it was not organised.

It is scheduled again at the 33rd Games in Thailand and it is a target that Việt Nam would aim at in 2025.

Speaking at the press briefing, coach Park Hyo Chul said current players in Việt Nam were of good quality. Through national tournaments, the federation could pick up and nurture talented players for the national team. It took at least three years to train a person to be a good baseball player. — VNS