China news agency, Shenzhen, November 11 (Reporter Jun Guo) The finals of the 4th Cross-Strait Student Baseball League kicked off in eight stadiums in Shenzhen on November 11. Thirty-two teams from both sides of the Taiwan Straits (20 teams from mainland China and 12 teams from Taiwan Province) will play 80 games in the eight-day schedule, competing for the championship in four groups: University Group, U18 Group, U15 Group and U12 Group.
A total of 840 players participated in the finals. During the games, various exchange activities will be held, such as "Players’ Night", visits and exchanges, and watching drone performances. It is reported that this year’s finals will be interspersed with exchange activities and competitions for the first time, and the time for communication outside the competition will be greatly increased. Players from primary and secondary schools on both sides of the strait learn from each other’s skills, make friends, and promote "one family on both sides of the strait" through baseball exchanges.
It is understood that after six years of hard work, baseball has been carried out in many universities, primary and secondary schools in Shenzhen, and more and more student baseball clubs have emerged. Baseball has become one of the favorite sports for students. Before the finals, the "2023 Little League Training Camp across the Taiwan Straits" was launched, and Taiwan Province’s outstanding hard ball was invited to Shenzhen for training, guidance and exchange, so as to jointly improve the baseball level across the Taiwan Straits.
For this competition, Xu Yong, CEO of the Cross-Strait Baseball Exchange and Cooperation Committee, is full of expectations. He said: "The Fourth Cross-Strait Student Baseball League Finals is of great significance for students from both sides of the Taiwan Strait to get acquainted and build a better platform for students from both sides of the Taiwan Strait. I hope they will become good friends, partners and brothers through this competition."
"I look forward to winning the championship in this competition." Although it rained continuously on the first day of the competition, it couldn’t resist the enthusiasm of Taiwan Province players. Cai Zhengyu, a sophomore from Taichung Beishi Middle School, was full of confidence in getting good results in this competition, although it was her first time to come to the mainland to participate in the competition.
Chen Yanrui, the coach of Cai Zhengyu, told reporters that he brought 16 players to the competition this time. Most of the players are coming to the mainland for the first time. They feel very fresh and kind. "They adapt quickly." Chen Yanrui said that baseball in mainland China has developed rapidly and its strength is growing. I hope there will be more opportunities to learn from mainland teams in the future.
Taiwan Province hard ball Ou Liqian, who has coached in the mainland for more than 7 years, told reporters that this is his fourth consecutive time to lead a team to participate in the cross-strait student baseball league. He believes that such an opportunity to participate in the competition is very rare, and students on both sides of the strait can accumulate competition experience, learn skills and enhance friendship. (End)