Mayor Chu Promotes Baseball at 2012 Cross-strait Baseball Tournament
The opening ceremony of the 2012 Cross-strait Baseball Tournament, hosted by New Taipei City, took place on Thursday morning at Tianmu Baseball Stadium. New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu, Taipei City Mayor Lung-pin Hao, Chinese Taipei Baseball Association chairman Tai-Zheng Zhen, and Chinese Taipei Baseball Association vice-chairman Yin Tan all attended the ceremony to cheer for players.
In Mayor Chu’s speech, he mention that baseball is the national sport in Taiwan and to revive such national sport, it must begin at grass roots; therefore, he was glad to see the Little League games being incorporated into the tournament. He cheered for New Taipei City representing teams and wished success to all teams.
Chu also said that promoting sports activities is considerably important to New Taipei City. The city government will not only encourage citizens to participate in sports but also keep seeking for opportunities to host international sports tournaments.
Mayor Chu emphasized that developing baseball required full community supports. Several city council members present at the scene were also long-time supporters of baseball. Chu believed Taiwanese baseball would become more successful in the future and shine at international level.
The Cross-strait Baseball Tournament was co-organized by Chinese Taipei Baseball Association and Chinese Baseball Association. The 1st tournament was hosted in Jenghung City, Yunnan in 2011, and the 2nd tournament is held in New Taipei City and Taipei City, Taiwan.
Eight baseball teams including New Taipei City, Taipei City, Taiwan Cooperative Bank, Taiwan Power Company, Tianjin Lions, Guangdong Cheetahs, Sichuan Dragons, and Jiangsu Hopestars were competing for the tournament title and six Little League baseball teams including New Taipei City Xinggu Elementary School, Taipei City Dongyuan Primary School, Taoyuan County Renshen Elementary School, Beijing Xidan Primary School, Wuxi Experimental School, and Hong Kong United are competing for the Little League title.
The director-general of the Department of International Sports, New Taipei City, Jin-An Liao said that the five-day tournament is scheduled to run from October 24th, 2012 to October 28th, 2012. The tournament will take place at Xinzhuang Baseball Stadium, New Taipei City and Tianmu Baseball Stadium, Taipei City. The Little League games will be hosted at the Youth Park, Taipei City. All of the games are free of charge. Please log on to http://www.t-sports.ntpc.gov.tw for more information.