BREAKING: The Hong Kong Baseball Association has officially postponed its annual International Baseball Open (HKIBO). The decision means that only one more international baseball tournament is still left on the 2020 calendar, The World Comes to Palm Beaches, still scheduled for November.
The HKIBO has occurred annually in December since its first edition in 2012. According to the federation, the 2020 edition is now scheduled for March 2021, assuming public health conditions permit.
The event grew out of the Zhujiang Cup International Invitation Baseball Tournament, an event held since 2000 and featuring smaller teams from Southeast Asia. It alternated between a men’s event and one for youth, eventually focusing only on the latter. According to the 2007 programme [link] (and a little help from Google Translate), “The name Zhujiang is employed to lay down our hope to develop baseball to all walks of people like the forever flow of Zhujiang [The Pearl River].”
A team has represented the Philippines in many of the Zhujiang Cups for men and HKIBOs, most commonly the Ateneo University Eagles. Other club teams have come from Australia (Sydney University), China (Shenzhen, Lanzhou), Russia (Vladivostok Tigers, often playing as “Russia”), and Taiwan (Brett, Da-Ho). Clubs have even represented Japan, South Korea, and the U.S.
Since 2013, the HKIBO has usually included the national teams of both Hong Kong and Singapore. Last year, Hong Kong defeated “Russia” 20-4 in the final. Recent coverage of the event can be accessed below.
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