Cheng Hoi Ting: Hong Kong star thanks home crowd support, eyes bright future for Baseball5

Hong Kong’s Cheng Hoi Ting has his mind set on bringing a whole new generation of Baseball5 stars to represent his region after what he termed a “stunning” WBSC Baseball5 World Cup, which finished in the Central Harbourfront Event Space in Hong Kong, China on Saturday.

The home team improved on their Mexico City 2022 performance by collecting two wins compared to one victory two years ago.

Hoi Ting, 26, who played midfield, led his teammates time and again with inspirational plays despite being one of the youngest players in his team, which is one of the oldest in the tournament with an average age of 28.125 just behind the oldest in Japan (28.875).

He reflected positively on the whole week, where he represented Hong Kong for the first time in a tournament which saw Hong Kong host its first ever WBSC World Cup, and said Baseball5 is definitely a sport for the future for the region.

“It was extremely exciting and I am honoured to have been apart of it,” he told the WBSC. “I want to thank the fans, especially all the school kids who came to watch. It helped inspire us.

“I have made many friends from different countries throughout the week. We exchanged a lot of knowledge and skills – especially with the likes of Cuba and Mexico. Now I want to share that with more of the community and promote the game, especially with the Asia Cup the next assignment in the calendar in 2026.”

Hong Kong can reflect on an impressive performance during the week – especially Hoi Ting who was one of two Hong Kong players to feature in the end of tournament statistics – ninth in the top batting averages with .652 (Yiu Yik Shun the other in fifth with a .693 average).

Coach Sergio Perez was presented with the Best Coach award at the closing ceremony but there’s no skirting around the fact that there is plenty of room for improvement. Hong Kong’s 55 runs scored was the second least over the course of the tournament behind Australia’s 24 while their 145 runs against was the tournament high.

Having started with a hard fought 9-7, 6-5 win over South Africa in their opening game in front of a passionate crowd just after the opening ceremony, the hosts then lost five on the bounce before claiming their second win in the Super Round against Australia.

“It was a great honour and pleasure to play and get the first win in the opening game of the tournament in front of a great crowd,” he said. “The whole team was lifted by the excellent support, hearing the crowd supporting Hong Kong gave us a great boost. My heart was pumping.” Now, with the tournament over and Hong Kong reflecting on their 10th place finish, Hoi Ting, who plays shortstop for a local baseball team when he’s not playing Baseball5, is now set to give more air to Baseball5 in the region.