Cheng Hoi Ting: Hong Kong star thanks home crowd support, eyes bright future for Baseball5

Hong Kong’s Cheng Hoi Ting has his mind set on bringing a whole new generation of Baseball5 stars to represent his region after what he termed a “stunning” WBSC Baseball5 World Cup, which finished on Saturday in the Central Harbourfront Event Space in Hong Kong, China on Saturday.

The home team improved on their Mexico City 2022 performanceby collecting two wins compared to one victory two years ago.

Hoi Ting, 26, who played midfield, led his teammates time and again with inspirational plays despite being one of the youngest players in his team, which is one of the oldest in the tournament with an average age of 28.125 just behind the oldest in Japan (28.875).

He reflected positively on the whole week, where he represented Hong Kong for the first time in a tournament which saw Hong Kong host its first ever WBSC World Cup, and said Baseball5 is definitely a sport for the future for the region.

“It was extremely exciting and I am honoured to have been apartof it,” he told the WBSC. “I want to thank the fans, especially all the schoolkids who came to watch. It helped inspire us.

“I have made many friends from different countriesthroughout the week. We exchanged a lot of knowledge and skills – especiallywith the likes of Cuba and Mexico. Now I want to share that with more of thecommunity and promote the game, especially with the Asia Cup the next assignmentin the calendar in 2026.”

Hong Kong can reflect on an impressive performance duringthe week – especially Hoi Ting who was one of two Hong Kong players to featurein the end of tournament statistics – ninth in the top batting averages with .652(Yiu Yik Shun the other in fifth with a .693 average).

Coach Sergio Perez was presented with the Best Coach award atthe closing ceremony but there’s no skirting around the fact that there is plentyof room for improvement. Hong Kong’s 55 runs scored was the second least overthe course of the tournament behind Australia’s 24 while their 145 runs againstwas the tournament high.

Having started with a hard fought 9-7, 6-5 win over SouthAfrica in their opening game in front of a passionate crowd just after theopening ceremony, the hosts then lost five on the bounce before claiming theirsecond win in the Super Round against Australia.

“It was a great honour and pleasure to play and get thefirst win in the opening game of the tournament in front of a great crowd,” hesaid. “The whole team was lifted by the excellent support, hearing the crowdsupporting Hong Kong gave us a great boost. My heart was pumping.”

Now, with the tournament over and Hong Kong reflectingon their 10th place finish, Hoi Ting, who plays shortstop for a local baseballteam when he’s not playing Baseball5, is now set to give more air to Baseball5in the region.