The first day of the 2019 Women's European Championship is officially over. 

Only 22 out of the 113 games of the tournament have been played, but we have already seen a good amount of homeruns, amazing plays and two very tight games. A remarkable fact is that out of the 22 played games today, 20 games ended in a mercy-rule win.

All expected leaders confirmed their role on this first day; so far, the Czech Republic and France (Group A), Israel and Italy (Group B), the Netherlands and Russia (Group C) and Germany and Great Britain (Group D) remain undefeated in their group. 

At 20:30, the official opening ceremony was held and the first pitches were thrown by Adolfina Táčová (a Czech former gymnast who competed in the 1960 Summer Olympics and in the 1964 Summer Olympics), Taťána Netoličková (a retired 400 metres runner who represented Czechoslovakia and won a silver medal at the World Championship in 1983) and Jana Slaninová (athlete with the 400m sprint as discipline). Also Andrea Hoffmanová (deputy mayor of Ostrava) and Mgr. Stanislav Folwarczny (deputy governor of the region) were present to give the tournament an official opening. 

Tomorrow, the second round of Round-robin games will be played. The first pitch will be thrown at 9:00, where Lithuania will take on Belgium in Ostrava. You can find the schedule with the rest of the games here.