The Croatian National team had to announce his withdrawal from the Enbridge Northern Gateway World Baseball Challenge this July in due to financial reasons. The Beijing Tigers (China) will replace Croatia in the competition. This leaves Germany as the lone European participant in the tournament, playing against the Bahamas, Prince George Axemen, the Reno Astros and the national teams from Taiwan, Canada and the USA.
Press Release regarding Croatia:
The Northern Gateway WBC is also excited to announce the addition of China to the official tournament roster. The Chinese team was recommended to the organizing committee by USA Baseball officials, and will be managed by Xu ZhenXiang. Mr. Larry Seminoff, the founder of the tournament (Grand Forks, 2002) was instrumental in putting the final pieces in place for China to play in Prince George.
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China, represented by the Beijing Tigers, replaces Croatia, which recently informed the organizing committee that funding issues with their association, tied to the global economic crisis, were creating a difficult barrier in the way of arranging travel and covering other expenses, such as visas. Many of the Beijing Tigers played in the recent World Baseball Classic.
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“We are sorry to get the news from Croatia, we have empathy for their situation, but we are ecstatic to add China to a truly global roster that includes teams from North America, Asia, Europe and the Caribbean,” said Seminoff.
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“There were countries that wanted to participate but couldn’t because the roster was full, so finding a replacement did not take long. This event is of interest to so many national programs that are part of the International Baseball Federation, and I’m eager to see the show that will be put on. It will be first-class; the people of Prince George always do things at a high level.”