A total of 124 participants representing 16 teams competed in the first ever Baseball5 French Open, staged at the National Institute of Sport, Expertise and Performance on the outskirts of Paris on Sunday.
More than 74 games were played before the Sharks beat the Tigers in the final 8-3. An urban version of baseball-softball, Baseball5 has been met with enormous success around the world and especially France as the first country in Europe to inaugurate a Baseball5 field in 2018.
The IOC Executive Board approved the inclusion of Baseball5 as a medal sport in the Youth Olympic Games Dakar 2022 on February 2. It will be the first time baseball softball features at a Youth Olympic Games and it will also be the first Olympic team sport to feature mixed-gender teams.
Meanwhile, the first edition of the European Baseball5 Championships will be held from February 28 to March 1 in Vilnius in Lithuania while the qualification process for the inaugural Baseball5 World Cups will start in April. The WBSC Asia Baseball5 Commission has invited all Asian members to participate in the Asian Cup Baseball5, both for open age and U-15 categories. The winner of these events will represent Asia in the first-ever Baseball5 World Cups, slated to be played in Mexico in December.
Fast, fun, simple and accessible, Baseball5 is a mixed discipline that is played five against five without a bat or glove and on any surface. A ball is enough for the batter to hit directly by hitting it with the palm of his or her hand.
Crédit Photo : Glenn Gervot / FFBS
