Chinese National Baseball Team Hold Training Camp in Okinawa (Japan) to Develop Skills Members of Strong Team Gather without Lunar New Year Holidays

Chinese　Japanese

There has been a great deal of anticipation for the Chinese national baseball team to succeed in the Olympics, which will be held in Beijing, China. After the completion of the KONAMI CUP Asia Series last November, team China, after a short vacation, began practicing again in December at the Olympic Training Center in Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, China. The team departed for Okinawa (Japan) on January 10th. In the 3-week long training camp in Okinawa, three professional coachers and conditioning coaches, who were dispatched with the cooperation of NPB (Nippon Professional Baseball), are giving Chinese players practical instruction on how to play the game. The Chinese players, who will return to Guangzhou in the beginning of February, will continue their training, in the midst of the buzz of the “Spring Festival” (Lunar New Year) festivities in China, and work on the techniques and concept of “team play” which they learned in Japan.

At the end of January, we asked some of the Chinese players participating in the camp in Okinawa to say a few words to Chinese baseball fans. (Below are messages given by Shen Wei, Secretary General of the Chinese Baseball Association, and Wang Nan and Li Lei of the Beijing Tigers.)

[Shen Wei, Secretary General of the Chinese Baseball Association]

2008 will be a very important year for Chinese baseball. The Olympics provide a spectacular stage for athletes of all sports, but that does not mean that our work will end there. Seven of the world’s best teams will come to Beijing to participate in the Olympic Games. Results are not everything, but I hope that the players of the Chinese national team will do their best in every game. I hope that the efforts of the players will allow baseball fans, as well as people who do not know very much about baseball, to get a feel for the beauty of the game of baseball. In addition, in watching the players play, I hope people will be able to see that baseball is a game that suits Chinese people. Baseball, over a long period of time, has gained popularity in Chinese Taipei, Japan and Korea and has been very successful. It would be wonderful if China, as an Asian nation, could enjoy similar success. There are actually many baseball fans in China. For instance, the 2007 “Good Luck Beijing” produced the surprising outcome of the tickets being hard to come by. If we continue to promote it, I’m sure that the baseball market will continue to spread in China. Finally, although it is a little early, since we are approaching the Lunar New Year, I would like to wish all the fans a happy Lunar New Year. I would like to ask for your continued support, and let’s join hands and do our best in popularizing baseball in China!

[Wang Nan, Beijing Tigers Pitcher]

In autumn 2006, I injured my shoulder and made the decision to have surgery. My recovery after the surgery was going well, and I had thought that I would be able to return to the team very soon. However, things did not go as I had hoped, and I began to feel more frustrated as the team was preparing for the 2007 season. In hope of an early return, I began training again, but my speed and control was nowhere near what had hoped. That was when I told my self, “There’s no need to panache. I just need to focus on healing the injury”. I feel that I learned a lot from my experiences last year. My goal right now is to prepare for the season by getting comfortable on the mound as soon as I can, before the start of the season, so that I will be ready to go when the season begins. Also, my goals this year are to play well in the Beijing Olympics, of course, contribute in winning a championship for the Beijing Tigers, and to go on to the Asia Series. Finally, I would like to thank all of the fans for their support. I am recovering quite nicely from my injury, so please don’t worry. This year, I will aim to deal with my challenges one thing at a time, so let’s join hands and do our best!

[Li Lei, Beijing Tigers Infielder]

Looking back on our (Beijing Tigers) 2007 season, a lot of our star players were injured and our team consisted mainly of younger players that lacked experience, so unfortunately, we were unable to win a championship. Personally, I participated in training camps in the United States and Japan, and learned a lot about hitting as well as defense. Over the past several years, I have played in several games overseas. Among all of the games, the homerun that I hit off Okajima, pitcher for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters (current the Boston Red Sox, MLB), in the 2006 KONAMI CUP Asia Series stands out in my mind. The six pitches that I faced were all fastballs, and if I remember correctly, the homerun ball was a fastball in the middle of the plate and up. I would like to make the best use of such overseas experiences during the Olympics. Finally, I would like to thank all of my fans and Beijing Tigers fans for their constant support. This year, it is my aim to play well in the Beijing Olympics and in the league games, and spread the appeal of Chinese Baseball, as well as the Beijing Tigers, to as many people as possible.