Baseball among 9 sports to be featured at Mini Pacific Games
The seven participants are American Samoa, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau and Solomon Islands.
Baseball is back on the programme of the Pacific Mini Games. The tournament is scheduled from 17 to 25 June at the Francisco Tan Ko M. Palacios Baseball Field (Oleai Sports Complex) in Saipan, Northern Marianas Islands. The field (pictured above/Saipan Tribune) was recently renovated after Typhoon Yutu damaged it in 2018.
The seven participants are American Samoa, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau and Solomon Islands.
The Pacific Mini Games is a scaled-down version of the main Pacific Games. Both events happen on a four-year cycle.
It was inaugurated in 1981 to enable smaller nations and territories to host events and compete against each other.
Baseball was on the programme in 2005 in Palau. Guam won gold undefeated.
The Pacific Games, formerly known as the South Pacific Games, opened in 1963. It is a continental multi-sport event with participation exclusively from archipelagic countries around the Pacific Ocean. The next edition is scheduled for 2023 in Honiara, Solomon Islands.
Baseball was last featured on the Pacific Games programme in 2011 in New Caledonia. The Northern Mariana Islands defeated Guam in the final to claim gold. Palau finished third.
The Pacific Games Council approves 37 sports. The Pacific Mini Games does not have a compulsory sports list. However, half of the sports selected for the programme must come from the approved 37.
The Pacific Mini Games 2022 consists of nine sports: athletics, badminton, baseball, beach volleyball, golf, tennis, triathlon, Va'A (Outrigger Canoeing), weightlifting.
