Tokyo, June 28: The Tokyo Olympics 2020 is less than a month way and everyone is looking hopefully towards the quadranneial big bash with a lot of hope despite the Covid 19 pandemic hazards. The Tokyo 2020 has also given space to five new sports, another reason for a new set of fans to approach the Games with enthusiasm.
This time MyKhel is looking at baseball/softball as these events are sure to generate a lot interest in host nation Japan and USA, the main exponents of these sports.
1. Are baseball/softball making Olympics debut?
No. The baseball had become an Olympics medal event during the 1992 Games in Barcelona and continued till the 2008 event in Beijing before getting scrapped. Now, it has made a comeback and not without a reason too. The US is the baseball powerhouse but the discipline gives hosts Japan a genuine shot at a medal.
They have a highly successful Nippon Professional Basketball league which second only to Major League Baseball in terms of talents and popularity. They have some brilliant players too such as Hideo Nomo, Ichiro Suzuki, Hideki Matsui, Yu Darvish and Shohei Ohtani.
2. The baseball venues
The baseball competition will take place at two locations: Yokohama Baseball Stadium and Fukushima Azuma Baseball Stadium.
3. Competing nations
Six nations are competing in the baseball and they are USA, Japan, Israel, Mexico, South Korea and Dominican Republic.
4. Softball
In a rudimentary way, you can say that softball is the women's version of baseball. The event made its Olympics debut in the 1996 Atlanta Games and continued till the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Like baseball, the softball too will be one-off event as both the events will not feature in the 2024 Paris Games.
5. Softball venues
The Yokohama Baseball Stadium and Fukushima Azuma Baseball Stadium.
6. Competing nations
Like baseball, softball too will feature six participants and they are hosts Japan, USA, Canada, Australia, Mexico and Italy.