Lhuillier opens slopitch title bid

Cebuana Lhuillier of the Philippines opens its campaign with a triple bill today at the start of the 16th annual Bangkok International Slopitch softball tournament at the Queen Sirikit 60th Anniversary Stadium in Thanyaburi in Thailand.

The Cebuana Lhuillier batters, who left Manila yesterday, first test the mettle of home team Bangkok Turtlers at 8 a.m. before coming back to the field at 12:15 p.m. to face the Shanghai Sons.

The Filipinos, headed by Amateur Softball Association-Philippines president Jean Henri Lhuillier, then complete their three-game assignment against the Korean Heat at 4 p.m., hoping to top their group to make it to the top 8 of the 20-team field.

The top eight teams after the one-day elimination advance to the Division I phase of the tournament called the President’s Cup, while those in the lower half of the standing vie for the Second Division Governor’s Cup.

Teams from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Kuwait and China are also entered in the short but tough series spread until Sunday as part of the celebration of Queen Sirikit’s 60th birth anniversary.