Thousands of international fans packed the Fengtai Softball Field in Beijing on Wednesday as the eight women's fast pitch teams were competing in the fourth Olympic softball tournament underway.

Supporters were from a dozen nations, waving their flags and cheering on the teams competing in the tournament, which will reach climax in the final on Aug. 21.

International Softball Federation President (ISF) Don Porter was delighted with the support from fans.

"I get a lump in my throat when I see such enthusiasm from the fans." said Porter.

"Everyone has shown the Olympic spirit, with people from all over the globe coming to watch the games and participating in the party atmosphere around the grounds. The Olympic spirit is alive and pitching at Fengtai Field," he added.

Austin Sealy, an International Olympic Committee (IOC) member from Barbados, threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the opening game between Chinese Taipei and Canada and was full of praise for the Olympic competition.

"With the support that comes from my immediate circle for women being involved in sport, we see softball as a game with contact and coordination as a natural thing for the Caribbean region," said Sealy.

Dutch fan Jaap Tuk, from Rotterdam, voiced his support for the BackSoftball campaign, saying, "I would love to see softball come back into the Olympics. It's a sport played all over the world from Asia to the Americas to Europe and you can see from how packed the stadium is that it means a lot to the Olympics. "

Softball, which was introduced in the Atlanta Olympics 1996, was voted along with baseball out of the 2012 Games.

ISF then launched the namely "Backsoftball Campain", aiming to reinstate the sport into the 2016 Olympics with next year's vote at the 121st session of IOC.

Source:Xinhua