A total of ten teams participated in the event held by the Chinese Softball Association in Hongge Training Center, Panzhihua City, Sichuan Province from 27 March to 2 April.
Jiangsu team defeated Sichuan with a big score (16-0) in the final and won their 12th national champions in a row since 2010.
In all, ten provincial teams participated in the championship and played a group round-robin and page playoffs to battle for the title.
Jiangsu was crowned the champion, joined by Sichuan and Beijing on the podium.
Last year, the final game between Jiangsu and Sichuan was decided in extra innings, with Jiangsu winning 8-7 with a goodbye hit. This year the two teams were still the final contenders for the championship.
Jiangsu proved to be a strong contender from the start team from the start of the competition, while Sichuan’s performance was not up to the mark.
Sichuan’s starting pitcher, Chai Yinan, opened the game by giving a home run hit by Jiangsu’s leadoff, Chen Jia. Soon after, she was hit by a two-run homerun from Jiangsu’s catcher Xi Kailin, which forced Sichuan to replace the pitcher.
After that, the game settled into Jiangsu’s rhythm, the winning pitcher Wang Lan performing amazingly, leaving Sichuan with no chance to score at all.
Finally, Jiangsu won the game with 16-0, successfully defending the title.
Despite of the Covid-19 pandemic has been controlled in China currently, the players’ health and safe remained the CSA’s top priority, and a detailed and comprehensive safety plan for this tournament was strictly implemented.
The first physical fitness test of softball at the 14th National Games was carried out two days before the tournament. The Qualifier of the National Games will be held in Xingyi this June and the final stage of the National Games will be held in Xi’an in September this year.