New baseball, softball stadiums to be built in China for Hangzhou Asian Games 2022
The 19th Asian Games will be held in Hangzhou, China, from 10-25 September 2022. Shaoxing, one of six co-host cities, will host the baseball and softball competitions.
A four field baseball-softball complex will be built in Shaoxing, China, to serve as official competition venues of the 2022 Asian Games. Representatives from the Chinese Baseball Association and Chinese Softball Association made a site inspection last week to get an overview of the project, which consists of two baseball fields and two softball fields.
Construction is scheduled to start at the end of June and will be completed in October 2021, according to Chinese officials. The four ballparks are at the core of a wider construction project, which is set to improve the surrounding facilities and create a future community where sports industry, city culture and natural ecology are integrated.
The Chinese Baseball Association and Chinese Softball Association will work together with the venue owner and local sports authorities to potentially host international events and serve as a training hub for the Chinese national teams after the 2022 Asian Games.
Baseball has been played at the Asian Games seven times, starting in Hiroshima 1994 (it was a demonstration sport in 1990). Korea leads the medal table with five golds, including the last three editions, while Chinese Taipei and Japan have one gold medal apiece.
Women’s softball will make its ninth appearance at the Games, after debuting in Beijing in 1990. China claimed the gold medal in the first three editions, while Japan has won the gold medal in softball at the last five editions of the Asian Games.
Hangzhou will be the third Chinese host of the Asian Games, following Beijing in 1990 and Guangzhou in 2010. Over 10,000 athletes from 45 countries and regions will take part in 40 sports during the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games.
The 2026 Asian Games will be held in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.
