First Cambodia Baseball5 League success with 12 teams, Team Eagle Kings crowned inaugural champions
Team Eagle Kings from Phnom Penh were crowned as Cambodia's inaugural Baseball5 champions following the staging of the first Cambodia Baseball5 League from 21 to 24 August at the Olympic Stadium in Phnom Penh.
A total of 12 teams competed in the league, which was conducted using a four-pool format, with Team All of One, also from Phnom Penh, and Team Chnang Meas from the Kompomg Chhnang Province finishing second and third respectively.
The success of the first Cambodia Baseball5 League, which generated a lot of spectator interest, bodes well for the future of the sport in the country with organisers stating that the league has the potential to become a major sporting event in the country.
World Baseball Softball Confederation instructor Andrea D’Auria held a Baseball5 coaching clinic parallel to the event to assist and support the coaches, who were new to the discipline while Nor Hajar Abdul Hamid of Softball Asia / WBSC-Asia Baseball5 briefed the Game Officials at a course prior to the start of the Cambodia Baseball5 League on August 20.
Baseball5 events have been ramping up in Asia this year with the WBSC Baseball5 World Cup 2024 taking place from 7 to 12 October in Hong Kong while Baseball5 clinics and coaching seminars were held in Thailand and Hong Kong in August. Earlier this year the 2nd U-18 Baseball5 Asia Cup was held in April in Seoul, Korea, which also included clinics.