Taba Lower Secondary School was crowned the champions of the first-ever under-15 Bhutan Amateur Baseball League at Changlingmithang last night. They faced Dechencholing Higher Secondary School in the finals. The game was organised by Bhutan Baseball and Softball Association.
Taba Lower Secondary School players could hardly secure any run in the first and second innings. However, they managed to secure 4 runs in the third inning. On the other hand, Dechencholing Higher Secondary School kept on adding their points until the fourth innings.
However, Taba Lower Secondary School came back stronger and took over the match and secured 14 runs in just six innings against the 11 runs secured by Dechencholing in seven innings.
‘‘It was because of my coach, teacher and family support that my team reached us here and won the match. Our training result came out good and we are very happy to win this match,” said Jigdrel Penjor, the Captain of the Taba LSS.
‘‘I am very proud to play in this U-15 league. And I am very happy to be a runner-up, I am looking forward to playing more. And this sport keeps us healthy and fit,” said Dechen Tshomo, the Captain of Dechencholing HSS.
Bhutan Baseball and Softball Association started the league in December last year and it was scheduled to complete in March this year. However, it got delayed due to lockdowns.
‘‘Because of the pandemic we could not do anything for two months and we had to stop. Right after the lockdown was lifted, respective schools have their own activities, programs and academic sessions, and we couldn’t continue and keep in touch with all five schools’ children. However, we didn’t lose hope and kept on managing our time to train them at least for an hour a day, thrice a week for each school and finally we are here,” said Sanjeevan Raj Gurung, the Technical Head of the BBSA.
And according to the International Coach and the Director of Baseball Operations at the BSSA, Marvin Moore, the association will soon come up with league games for different age groups. ‘‘Our ultimate goal is to have U-8, U-12 league, U-15 league, U-18 league. If you see the game tonight, native coaches have done a great job. They learnt the game from YouTube,” he added.
Satisfied with how the tournament turned out, he said baseball in the country has come a long way in just a short time.
“It is just a matter of time before Bhutan play some international tournaments. Our objective is to make baseball in Bhutan reach the international level. So, our goal is for Bhutan to be able to reach international tournaments,” he said.
Forty-five girls and 45 boys from five schools in Thimphu participated in the league. Bhutan Baseball and Softball Association organized the league for mixed-gender to give equal opportunities.
The winners and runners-up were awarded team trophies and certificates.
Karma Wangdi
Edited by Phub Gyem
