As a test event of the technical system at the venue for the
next year's Olympic Games, the Intentional Women's Fast Pitch
Tournament is to kick off in Beijing Feng Tai Softball Field from
October 9 to October 14 with four world's leading softball teams as
Australia, Canada, Chinese Taipei and China.
The four teams, which are ranked between No. 3 to No. 6 in the
world, have been qualified for the Beijing Olympic Games.
The tournament will take preliminary and semifinals in a page
play-off system, final and grand final.
Wang Lihong, former pitcher and now head coach of the host team,
said after training here on Monday: "It's a great opportunity to
play against stronger teams than us, like Australia and Canada.
We'll test our young players and gain experience from the
event."
China brought home a silver medal from the 1996 Atlantic Olympic
Games before slumping to fourth in 2000 and 2004 Olympics.
"There are no weak rivals at the Olympic Games, but we still
hope we can do a better job," Wang said.
(Xinhua News Agency October 8, 2007)