Heroes tie with Samurais in CBO Final opener
- By Pierre Chen
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China.org.cn, October 3, 2011
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| Xu Zheng, ex-national pitcher pitches at Samurai at the opening match of the CBO Finals on Sunday in Beijing. [Maverick Chen / China.org.cn] |
"I was too eager for a victory, although a tied match is also acceptable," says Xu Zheng shortly after the match, still regretting his last run.
"I was on the third base and my teammates counted on me to make it home and finish the game. If I had made it, we would have beaten Samurais by one. But I was too hasty."
The ex-national pitcher said that, as the most experienced player in the team, he feels enormous pressure whenever he plays. Besides playing for the Dream Heroes, Xu also coaches Beijing Jiaotong University's baseball team. "Usually my teammates expect me both to score and to lead the team," he said.
The Samurais, made up entirely of Japanese nationals working in China who started playing baseball as children, have demonstrated superior skills and preparation. They silenced the partisan Chinese crowd with an astonishing 6-0 run in the first set.
However, Dream Heroes, who are mostly retired players from national and municipal teams, regrouped calmly and responded with some astute tactical changes. They managed to chase up shortly with lots of successful second-base pinch steals.
In defence, Dream Heroes' ace pitcher Xu Zheng continually dispatched Samurai batters with strikes before they even had the chance to make it to first base.
Over the course of the tournament, both the Dream Heroes and Samurais will play the other two teams in Group B. The top two teams in the group will then advance to the semi-finals, meeting their respective rivals from Group A. The final of the r CBO championship will be held on the afternoon of Oct. 4.
The winners will receive prize money of 150,000 yuan, as well as 45 return plane tickets to Taiwan, where players will meet with local baseball teams.
CBO, City Baseball Open, is a nationwide amateur tournament organized by Beijing Score Sports Company and sponsored by a handful of sportswear companies, including Mizuno.
Score Sports plans to make the tournament an annual event, with the aim of boosting baseball's popularity in China, especially in the country's northern, eastern and southern regions.
More than 1,500 players have participated in the opening stages of this year's tournament, making it the largest ever of its kind in the country, according to Ms. Wang Yuning, a member of the CBO organizing committee.
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