Baseball strives to rise

Despite being a world-renowned sport, baseball is not very popular in Southeast Asia. That is why it has only been included in the SEA Games five times: in 2005, 2007, 2011, 2019, and 2025.

The Vietnamese baseball team competing at the recent SEA Games 33 - Photo: NAM TRAN

Of those tournaments, the 2005 and 2019 editions were held in the Philippines, where baseball is much more popular than in other countries. This nation also dominated, winning gold medals in 4 out of 5 editions. The only other country to have achieved this honor was Thailand in 2007, but that was also when they were the host nation.

In Vietnam, baseball is still a relatively unfamiliar sport, despite having been introduced in the 1990s. Mr. Ly Dai Nghia, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Sports Training and Competition Center, is one of the people who has been involved with this sport for many years.

From 2020 to 2025, he served as the president of the Ho Chi Minh City Baseball Association, a position he recently completed when his term ended. Despite this, Mr. Ly Dai Nghia remains highly respected, considered one of the long-time contributors to the development of baseball in the South.

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Speaking about the difficulties facing baseball, he shared: "The biggest problem that remains unresolved is the lack of playing fields. Every year, we still organize the National Baseball Championship, but we have to borrow soccer fields to play. Meanwhile, baseball fields have very different sizes and unique characteristics. Therefore, training and the development of the sport are still limited."

Mr. Nghia also said that previously, several organizations from South Korea had approached him about building a stadium in Vietnam. However, this plan was unsuccessful, and players continue to have to borrow stadiums from other sports to play.

However, this hasn't caused baseball to be forgotten. Although the number of players is limited, it continues to increase steadily each year. Many clubs in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City still regularly organize training sessions and competitions. Socialization has also been boosted thanks to support from Japan and South Korea, countries with a passion for this sport.

"There are some sports that, if you're going to do them, you absolutely have to do them professionally, not haphazardly. Baseball is one of those sports. Of course, we have to find a way to do it; we can't just complain about the difficulties and say we can't do it."

Furthermore, baseball has now introduced a new model called 5x5 baseball. This is a format where each team only needs 5 players and can be played in a small space, without requiring a large field. In Vietnam, this model is more suitable than traditional baseball. Therefore, we will conduct more in-depth research to develop the movement," said Mr. Ly Dai Nghia.

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At the recent SEA Games, 5x5 baseball was included as a competitive event. Despite this relatively new format, Vietnam still managed to send a team, through a socialized model. Although neither baseball team achieved any significant success, participating in the SEA Games demonstrates that the sport can still exist and develop within its own community.

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DUC KHUE

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/bong-chay-no-luc-vuon-len-20260202170058187.htm