Asia

Work starts on Baseball-Softball Center for 2022 Asian Games

Work has commenced on the Baseball-Softball Center for Hangzhou’s staging of the 2022 Asian Games.

Covering around 160,000 square metres, the facility will be located in Shaoxing city, southeast of Hangzhou in east China’s Zhejiang province. It will be China’s largest baseball and softball venue suitable for international competitions.

The project is expected to be complete in October 2021, with state news agency Xinhua stating it will cost around CNY1.8bn (£207.4m/€227.1m/$254.4m). It will comprise of separate baseball and softball stadia, with the venues designed to reflect Shaoxing’s long-standing textile culture.

Aside from baseball and softball, Shaoxing is also set to host basketball, volleyball and sport climbing competitions during the Asian Games, which will take place from September 10-25, 2022.

In March, Asian Olympic chiefs hailed the progress being made on the under-construction venues for the multi-sport event after work resumed following a closure of several weeks due to COVID-19.

The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) said work was on track on the project, which covers 32,500 square metres and includes the velodrome, five other venues and villages for athletes, media and technical officials.

The OCA said construction officials were confident that the flagship velodrome in Chun’an County would be completed on schedule by the end of 2021.

Images: Hangzhou 2022