Taipei, Aug. 2 (CNA) Uneven scores and little fanfare couldn't stop their love for baseball as seven international teams battle this week in the second Women's Baseball World Cup, which runs from July 31 - Aug. 6 in Taipei.
Host team Taiwan, Australia, Japan, Canada, Hong Kong, Cuba and the U.S. make up the field as the U.S. seeks to defend its crown in the single round-robin tournament that was inaugurated in Edmonton, Canada in 2004.
Compared to their male counterparts, who are often called "boys of summer, " these "girls of summer" haven't seen the popularity or skills of men's baseball, however.
Attendance in Tienmu Baseball Stadium has numbered less than 100 in the first three days of the competition. The fact that Japan pounded Hong Kong in a shutout by an unbelievable score of 43-0 doesn't convince anyone that this is a genuine world cup event, either.
But it shows the game of baseball is still in a promotional stage in the women's world. Cuba, which has been long known as a men's baseball powerhouse, didn't start developing its women's baseball program until two years ago, said Cuba head coach Jesus Escudero Rodriguez.
Home team Taiwan didn't have a women's national team before recruiting softball players for the tournament. Hong Kong, which dropped 86 runs in the first three games while only scoring three times, didn't even have a regular baseball field before last year, said Lee Yat-keung, Hong Kong's head coach.
On the other side of the spectrum, Japanese women's baseball ranks among the world's best, along with the U.S. and Canada. Japan has been developing women's baseball for 10 years and has a women's league of more than 20 teams.
One thing in common is they all love to play the game.
"I love the excitement of baseball compared to softball, " said 33-year-old Liu Tsu-hsin, a former softball player and one of the most senior players on the Taiwanese squad.
"I truly love this game. And we'll get better with more development of women's baseball in Hong Kong," echoed Hong Kong's Lau Tsu-chin, who is only 14 years old but has baseball experience from playing on Hong Kong boys' little league team.
Rodriguez is also optimistic about the game's future, saying that Cuban women's baseball, given time, will one day be as good as men's baseball.
The rules of women's baseball are almost the same as for men, with the same field dimensions and type of hardball. However, women are allowed to use aluminum bats and the regulation play is seven innings instead of nine.