Shooting hits women baseball World Cup in Caracas

CARACAS, (Reuters) – Venezuela is investigating the  shooting of a Hong Kong player during a game at the women’s  Baseball World Cup and will issue a revised schedule yesterday for the 11 international teams taking part.

Vice President Elias Jaua said the player was hit in the  leg during a game against the Netherlands in a stadium at a  military base in Caracas on Friday. She was taken to the base’s  medical centre for treatment but was not seriously hurt.

Games were suspended after the incident, and the South  American country’s Sports Ministry said it would publish a  revised tournament schedule later on Saturday.

“We are evaluating the conditions to continue this  important event,” Jaua told state television. “We call on the  Venezuelan public to unite in defence of our nation … we hope  the whole country can help us explain what has happened.”

Venezuela has one of the continent’s highest crime rates,  and many residents carry firearms.

Jaua said the player had been struck by “an object similar  to a stray bullet” during the game on the second day of the  tournament.

The Sports Ministry identified the woman as Cheuk Woon Yee  Sinny and said in a statement she had been discharged after  spending the night at the Fort Tiuna Military Hospital.

It said she was clutching a bouquet of white roses and  walking with crutches when she was met at her hotel by cheering  members of the six teams playing their games in the city.

“What a pleasure to see them again … I’m pretty well,”  the ministry’s statement quoted the infielder as saying.  It said she was hit in the lower left calf as she took the  field to play third base during the fourth inning of the game,  which the Dutch team was winning 12-9.

She was visited in the hospital by her teammates, Jaua and  Sports Minister Hector Rodriguez, the ministry statement said. It added she was quite animated during the trip back to the  hotel and had spoken with her family. She and her teammates and  coach were calm about the “isolated incident,” the ministry  said.

The tournament, sanctioned by the International Baseball  Federation, features teams from Australia, the Netherlands,  Taiwan, Hong Kong, Canada, Venezuela, Cuba, Japan, Puerto Rico,  South Korea and the United States.

The first six teams are playing their games in Caracas,  while the rest are competing in the city of Maracay.

The Australian Baseball Federation said in a statement its  team had been at the stadium at the time of the incident  because it was due to play in the next game.

“Needless to say, the game was abandoned and all teams were  ushered immediately back to their hotels under tight security,”  the federation said.