With the heavily favored Team USA in town to defend its title, the 2006 World University Softball Championship will kick off in Kaohsiung today, as six squads from around the world get set to compete in a rain-shortened tournament, with the victor winning college softball bragging rights for the next two years.
Torrential rain associated with the passing of Tropical Storm Bilis has forced the organizers to switch from a double round-robin preliminary round to a single round-robin format, with the opening match being moved from the softball field in Tainan's Ho Shun Liao Sports Park to Kaohsiung's Fong Hsin Stadium.
"We will try to move the games back to Tainan -- as long as the weather permits," game officials for this year's tournament announced after two straight days of meetings in an attempt to proceed without further delay.
Other than the US squad, which will undoubtedly be the team to beat this year, Team Taiwan, the second-place finishers from the tournament in Plant City, Florida two years ago, are also looking good.
With eight returnees from the 2004 campaign, the home team will do its level best to keep the championship trophy in town.
The Australian team, which is loaded with tremendous talent, power, and speed, rounds out the top three clubs in this year's competition.
A lack of experience will hinder Team Japan, with only one player from its bronze medal-winning squad of 2004 returning for action, making this an obvious rebuilding year.
South Africa and Thailand round round out the field of six, with today's opening matches between Taiwan and Australia (Field 1) and South Africa versus Team USA (Field 2) at 1pm, followed by the games between Japan and South Africa (Field 1) and Thailand versus Team USA (Field 2) at 3:30pm.
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