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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, November 24, 2001

Softball Witnesses Downslide at National Games, Says Coach

The softball event of China's 9th National Game wrapped up here on Friday with alarming signs of regression of the sport, warned a veteran coach.


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The softball event of China's 9th National Game wrapped up here on Friday with alarming signs of regression of the sport, warned a veteran coach.

The 36 matches during the games showed a downslide of overall level of China's softball, said Li Minkuan, former head coach of China's national softball team. "If the situation is allowed to goon, it is hard for our softball team to get qualified for the 2004Olympic Games," he said.

Li, who took the former Chinese national team to the softball final of Atlanta Olympics in 1996, pointed out that very few promising bushers emerged from the eight teams competing at the national games.

Except the Chinese Army's team and Liaoning team, the other sixsquads were still anchored by veterans, with as many as 22 players above 30 years old. The champion Beijing team has eight players in their 30s, while the oldest player is already 37.

"Although these 'mother' players demonstrated admirable sportsmanship in the competition," Li said, "most of them have passed their peak and their sustained presence in the field had a negative impact on the sport, compromising the competing level and reducing the chance for young players to come to the fore."

Li, who watched most of the 36 matches, said he failed to spot any promising young talents who could capture his attention immediately at the current games.

Throughout the 36 battles there were only four home run hits, while there were fewer base hits as compared to the previous national games. "The fielding was weakened and the players became less able to score," observed Liu Zhuangyi, deputy director of theumpire committee of the Chinese Softball Association. While the Beijing team won all the nine battles to claim the title, they won several matches only narrowly, and the runner-up Shanghai team lost three matches to Beijing. "The strong teams were not powerful enough and the weak teams did not show any impressive progress, which further indicated that the softball competitions at the current games were not of high level," said LiMinkuan.

The Chinese softball team has to rank among the top four in the2002 World Softball Championships before they can qualify directlyfor the Athens Olympics. Judged by the performances of the country's ace softball players at the current national games, Li Minkuan predicted that it will be "very difficult" for the Chinese team toget the qualification, although he added things are not hopeless. He suggested that a group of top-class coaches be organized right away and effective training methods be adopted to get the team back to the shape after the national games. "Then efforts should be made to bring up young talents for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games," he said.




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