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Despite being snubbed by the IOC, baseball is enjoying increased popularity on amateur fields in China.

According to Ren Sijiu, who plays amateur league baseball in Beijing, the capital now has two amateur leagues organized by South Koreans and Japanese. Both competitions play about 20 matches a year. There is also another league on the way this year.

Beijing has more than 10 baseball fields, mostly at the outskirts of the city. Municipalities like Shanghai and Guangzhou are in similar positions. Xiamen, Dalian and Chengdu are also sprouting fields.

However, university campuses have become the prime venues for baseball enthusiasts.

"The students always become solid practitioners if they find themselves attracted to the sport," said Shen Wei, secretary general of the Chinese Baseball Association.

"The number of universities registered at the University Association of Baseball and Softball has reached more than 100 from original 20, which indicates the sport is a fine fit for campuses."

Ren said Beijing now has about 25 universities with baseball and/or softball classes for students.

"The Peking University, Tsinghua University and University of International Business and Economics are among the best practitioners. Each of them has about 200 students starting to learn baseball or softball each year," he said.

Shen said the associattion launched a national amateur tournament in 2012. The first event attracted more than 5,000 participants from about 20 provinces and autonomous regions. MLB will also host a tournament this spring which will feature more than 20 universities from Beijing and Shanghai.

"From us loving and practicing baseball, we believe this is the best sport, because it is a team sport and also a great game for families. It can be played in different ways regardless of how many participants there are. And that's why a lot of people play baseball from childhood to old age," Ren said.

Tang Zhe

(China Daily 03/24/2013 page8)