Landmark moment: Women’s baseball team hits home run

Going to World Cup in Japan for first time in their history

KARACHI: Pakistan women’s baseball team will make history when they take part in the upcoming Women’s Baseball World Cup, set to be held from September 3 to 11 at Gijang City, South Korea.

It will be the first time Pakistan women’s team will take part in the baseball World Cup, qualifying via their 23rd spot in the world rankings.

In order to ensure that the players are well-trained for the event, Pakistan Federation Baseball (PFB) has decided to acquire the services of two international female coaches.

“We have planned to appoint two international women coaches who will improve the performance of the team and prepare for their debut World Cup campaign,” president PFB Syed Khawar Shah told The Express Tribune.



“As compared to other nations, our team is not as physically fit, but they have still succeeded in qualifying for the World Cup,” added Shah, who also revealed that the international coaches will focus on the players’ stamina and physical fitness.



The number of teams at this year’s World Cup has been increased to 12, up from the eight that took part in the tournament’s sixth edition in 2014 in Japan.

Pakistan have been placed in Group A alongside hosts Korea, Venezuela and Cuba, whereas Group B features defending champions Japan, Canada, Netherlands and India. Group C, meanwhile, boasts United States, the number two nation in the world, as well as Australia, Chinese Taipei and Hong Kong.



At a time when Pakistani athletes are struggling to secure direct qualification to the 2016 Rio Olympics, it is a great achievement, according to Shah, that both the men’s and the women’s teams have made it to the World Cup on merit.

Shah further revealed that the federation will be selecting 25 women from the recently concluded National Women Baseball Championship in Lahore based on their performances and fitness. “These 25 players will be trained by international coaches for two months and then the final squad will be named before the team departs for Korea in the first week of September,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 10^th, 2016.

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