Softball kicks off today, three pull out

SOFTBALL matches will start today at the Kokopo Sports Ground.
Tournament director Peter Chalapan said yesterday the games were deferred after three teams – Autonomous Region of Bougainville, West Sepik and Gulf withdrew at the last minute forcing the draws to be amended.
In the women’s division, seven teams will be taking part.
They are Morobe, East Sepik, Jiwaka, Western Highlands, East New Britain, West New Britain and New Ireland.
The men’s division will have nine teams competing following the withdrawal of the three teams.
Chalapan said the teams were briefed on the new draws late yesterday.
Today’s matches for the men’s division will start at 9am with ENB versus WHP, Morobe against Northern in pool A, Madang versus Jiwaka, New Ireland versus West New Britain in pool B.
The fixture for the women’s division will see the seven teams play in a round robin format with Morobe meeting New Ireland, Western Highlands against East Sepik, East New Britain versus Jiwaka and West New Britain taking on Western Highlands.
“It is really exciting to see some new provinces, especially those from the Highlands region, taking part in the tournament and also ESP after a long layoff.
“This shows they are keen to reactivate softball in their provinces,” Chalapan said.
“We want to make sure the games are being played at the best standard taking into account the safety of everybody.” and also the safety aspect of umpires is also important.”