Fiji Baseball5 team makes strong international debut

Fiji's National Youth Baseball5 team made a strong international debut at the second Hong Kong High Five Baseball5 Seniors Championship.

The World Baseball Softball Con­federation (WBSC)-sanctioned tour­nament was held from September 11 to 13 at DPARK shopping mall in Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong.

The Fijians finished fourth after recording two wins from five matches to finish fourth overall.

They also earned world rank­ing points and are now ranked 51st among 78 countries.

Fiji opened with a 2-1 sets loss to GUFL Blue Eyes before going down in straight sets to the experienced hosts, Team Hong Kong, China.

The side bounced back on day two with a 2-0 win over Hong Kong Brisk. It followed that with another straight-sets victory over GUFL.

Fiji's final match was against Asian Stars from Chinese Taipei, the eventual champions. The nar­row loss kept the young Fijians off the podium.

Coach Inoke Niubalavu said the tournament was an important mile­stone for the team.

"To see our young athletes step onto the international stage and compete with such elite passion proves that our grassroots develop­ment is bearing fruit," he said.

Niubalavu was also named Best Coach of the Tournament after guiding Fiji to fourth place.

Baseball is a fast-paced form of baseball played without bats or gloves. Teams have five mixed-gen­der players and games are played on a small court.

Fiji is now looking ahead to the Oceania Youth Baseball5 qualifica­tion process for the 2027 Youth Base­ball5 World Cup in Rome, Italy.

FIBSA also plans to expand its school and community programmes as it builds towards future interna­tional competitions.

Results:

■ Fiji 1-2 GUFL Blue Eyes

■ Fiji 0-2 to Hong Kong, China

■ Fiji 2-0 Hong Kong Brisk

■ Fiji 2-0 GUFL

■ Lost to Asian Stars (Chinese Taipei) in the final match.