The Baseball European Championship in Zurich opened on Monday in front of a sell-out crowd at the Heerenschürli ballpark. The Swiss faced Great Britain for its first European championship game in Switzerland. The team of headcoach Andy Fleischacker took an early 3-2 lead after the first inning and kept the game close, as they were just one run down after seven frames. But the British finished strong scoring nine times in the eight and ninth innings to eventually win 14-5. The Challengers players Tobias Siegrist and Francisco Colindres went 2-for-4 and scored one run each for the Swiss.

Switzerland will take on the Ukraine on Tuesday, July 23 at 6.30 pm for its second game of the tournament. The Ukraine started with a 14-6 win over Slovenia, while Bulgaria posted a 10-3 victory over Poland.