【Chinese Baseball League Week-7 Digest】

Southeast area：Guangdong Leopards and Shanghai G Eagles were
go into post season. Northeast area：Tianjin Lions were
go into post season.

Chinese　Japanese

The 2007 CBL entered its 6th week, and the season it’s penultimate weekend. The post-season teams determined from last week, with the Guangdong Leopards and Shanghai Eagles atop the south, and the Tigers and Lions to face off in the Northern Division semi-finals.

【At the Beijing stadium】	【At the Shanghai Putongstadium】	【At the Guangzhou stadium】

【Shanghai・Xia Kang Nan 】

【Guangdong team】

With second place already wrapped up in the Southern division, the Shanghai Eagles set to face off against the Dragons at home. With the post-season already determined for both teams, the results of the games were not as important as previous weeks. The Eagles sent out a team of young players in order to shape them up for future seasons, but they failed to respond to the call, and lost the first two games 0-6 and 4-10. In the Sunday game, the Dragons followed suit and sent out young players, but Shanghai pitcher Xia Kangnan threw a complete game and shut them down, 4-1.

The Jiangsu Hopestars visited Guangzhou with only three victories on the season. Before the season, they had hoped to reach a total goal of four victories, and with only six games left, their chances were looking slim. They looked slimmer after they got routed in the first game 5-15, and their struggles continued through the weekend, as they fell 0-5, and 1-11. In the Friday game, the Hopestars pitching only lasted through eight, and in the Sunday game, through 7, as the Guangdong team picked up momentum moving into the post-season.

The Tianjin Lions faced off against the Tigers in Beijing, with the throne of the North at stake. Each team battled hard, with the first two games being split, 3-0 in favor of the Tigers on Friday, and 7-4 in favor of the Lions on Saturday. In the Sunday game, Lions centerfielder Wang Chao came up big with the bat, and safe-guarded the Tianjin 6-4 victory against the Tigers, giving Tianjin the top seed in the North.

【Beijing area’s game scene①】	【Beijing area’s game scene②】	【Beijing area’s game scene③】

After the sixth week of contests, Tianjin sits alone atop the North, followed closely by the Tigers, with the Dragons far behind. In the South, the Guangdong team perched high above the standings, with Shanghai behind them, and the Jiangsu team sitting alone with three victories at the bottom of the standings.

Next week is the final weekend series, with the Lions hosting the Eagles in Tianjin, with their division crown comfortably in hand. Beijing heads south to Wuxi to take on the struggling Hopestars, who have one more chance to claim their fourth victory of the season. The Dragons head to Guangzhou, and hope to get their games in despite the onslaught of monsoon season rains. Next week’s outcomes will provide momentum and needed optimism for the playoffs – so each team will be battling strong, no matter the standings.

【MVP Commendation ceremony Week-5 (May 25）】

【Chengdu area MVP Week-5： Beijing Jia Yu Bing】	【Jiangsu area MVP Week-5： Tianjin Wang Chao】
【Guangzhou area MVP：Guangdong Liu Kai】