As the shut down of sport sparked by the COVID-19 virus continues in large parts of the world, the Taiwan Professional Women's Softball League (TPWSL) campaign began on Saturday (April 25).

Five matches were held behind closed doors at the Wanshou Softball Ground in Taichung City on the opening day of the season.

Games in the league will be staged without fans until further notice under COVID-19 measures.

FOX Sports Taiwan provided coverage of the matches, which were also shown on Facebook.

The first half of the TPWSL campaign is due to run until June 21, with the second half scheduled to take place between August 8 and October 11.

"The fact we can open the softball season in Taichung reflects the solid achievement we have accomplished toward pandemic prevention," said Taichung City Mayor Shiow-Yen Lu.

"I also want to point out that the launch of the softball season is a demonstration of our continuous pursuit of gender equality in sports."

Other sports in Taiwan, including football, basketball and baseball, have also started their professional seasons.

Taiwan has officially reported only 429 cases of the virus and six deaths.