(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photo by Henk Seppen)
         
 
Japan wins Asian Championship; Three countries qualify for World Championship, Five qualify for Asian Games
Nederlands
 TAICHUNG CITY (Taiwan) -
Japan won the eleventh edition of the Asian Women's Softball Championship on Monday (December 4) by winning the Final of the event against the Philippines 7-0.
Initially, twelve countries were to participate in the event, which also was a qualifying tournament or the World Championship and the Asian Games.
However, all games scheduled to be played against Iran and Pakistan unfortunately ended in a 7-0 forfeit-win for the opponent.
It was the fourth time in a row and sixth time overall that Japan won the Asian Championship-title.
The first Championship was held in 1967, followed by editions in 1969 and 1972.
It then took until 1987 for the next Championship to be organized.
Since then, almost every four years, a new tournament followed through 2011.
The eleventh edition was to be held in 2015, but was postponed twice and took place now in Taichung.
The Philippines finished in fourth place in the previous two Championships.
Winning the Silver Medal is the highest qualification for the country since it won the title in 1972.
On the Philippine roster were seven players who came from the USA and play college there.
In the preliminary round, Japan remained unbeaten in Pool A, winning all its five games.
The Philippines finished in second place, losing only to Japan (8-0) in its first game of the event.
Pool B was won by host Chinese Taipei, which stayed unbeaten, folllowed by China, which was 4-1.
In the double-elimination Play-Offs, the Philippines opened with a 7-3 loss against Chinese Taipei, while Japan shutout China 7-0.
With the loss, the Philippines would have been eliminated with his next loss, but instead won three in a row to reach the Final.
...Yukiko Ueno pitching for Japan during the 2014...
...World Championship in Haarlem (Netherlands),...
...where the team won the Gold Medal...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
The team first recorded a big 17-0 shutout against Hong Kong in the Quarter Final.
Hereafter, the Philippines advanced to the Final by recording two stunning victories against top-countries Chinese Taipei and China, which respectively won Silver and Bronze on the last Championship in 2011.
In the morning, the Philippines reached the backdoor-game by winning 4-3 against China, which therefore finished in fourth place.
South Korea recorded a big 12-1 victory against Hong Kong to finish in fifth place and qualify for next years Asian Games.
Next, the Philippines won 5-3 against host Chinese Taipei in the Bronze Medal-game (backdoor).
Trailing 3-1, the Phillippines struck in the fifth inning by scoring three runs, then added another run on a homerun in the seventh.
With its win against China, Japan advanced to the Semi-Final and then shutout Chinese Taipei 2-0 to become the first finalist.
In the Final at Wan-Shou Baseball Stadium, Japan opened the score in the first inning, then rallied for five runs in the third at bat.
The seventh run was added in the fourth.
Veteran righthander Yukiko Ueno was the winning pitcher.
By finishing in the top three positions behind champion Japan, the Philippines, Chinese Taipei and China all qualified for participation in next years World Championship, which will be played in Chiba (Japan) with the host country of course having qualified automatically.
These countries, plus fifth-placed South Korea also qualified for participation in the Asian Games, which will be held next year in Indonesian capital Jakarta.
They will join host Indonesia, which finished in seventh place in Taiwan.
Final Standings Asian Championship
1. Japan, 2. the Philippines, 3. Chinese Taipei, 4. China, 5. South Korea, 6. Hong Kong, 7. Indonesia/Singapore, 9. Thailand/India, 11, Pakistan/Iran.
(December 5)
|
