VietNamNet Bridge – Ha Noi baseball junior team will meet tough rivals from South Korea in their first match at the Asian Pacific Junior Baseball League in Seoul on Sunday.

The U-12 team, who won the Asian Pacific tournament after a 13-8 win over Indonesia Brambo in the northern province of Vinh Phuc in January, will again face tough opponents from Japan on Monday before testing Indonesia on Wednesday.

Viet Nam have an uphill battle to win at least two of three matches in their group to get to the semi-finals.

"Japan and South Korea are big rivals for us. However, our players will do their best. I warned our kids that they will be pressured at the tournament," said Ha Noi baseball team chairman Ngoc Thuy.

She said the team, founded in 2008, had lured over 100 players to train each weekend in Ha Noi in U-8 and U-14 age groups. Older teams train on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and the weekend.

"Actually, the sport is very new in Viet Nam so our kids don't have a baseball ground to play on. But they still find the game exciting," Thuy said.

Her two sons also train at the club.

"My sons began playing baseball in the US and we tried to set up an after-school sport for them in Ha Noi. We have nurtured four junior teams."

The former pop singer and her husband, Thomas Treutler, an American lawyer, built the team at their own cost, aiming to create a baseball playground for boys.

Team captain Nhu Ngoc Quoc Thinh has become one of their key players since he joined in 2008.

"I'm so happy to play the sport," Thinh, who plays second base, said. "I enjoy the teamwork and spirit during play. Although we'll face strong teams, I and my teammates promise to play our socks off."

American Daniel Meltzer, who has coached the team since last year, said he had seen the kids progress.

Baseball is a pretty new sport in Viet Nam and the young people are getting into it," Meltzer said.

The Ha Noi team was the first baseball group in Viet Nam. Last year, the Faculty of International Studies of Ha Noi University formed a team in Ha Noi with 40 members training on Saturday and Sunday at Ha Noi University Stadium.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News