Defending champions, Chinese Taipei, Czech Republic as expected booked their place in them final of the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Under-12 Mixed Softball World Cup final tomorrow, as both teams had no problems dispensing their respective semifinal opponents – Singapore and Hong Kong – at the Jin-Long Field in Taichung City on the fourth day of the competition today.
Chinese Taipei defeated Singapore 15-0 (3 innings), who had booked their semifinals berth after a quarter final elimination round between them and India in the morning, whom they beat 10-0 over four innings.
India finished fifth in the tournament, win less.
Czech Republic, on the other hand, had no problems defeating Hong Kong 16-1 (over 4 innings) whom they had earlier in the round robin round won 18-0 in four innings.
While Czech Republic, who had finished third in the inaugural championship behind second placed Peru, will definitely finish in a better position this time around, but thinking of upsetting hosts Chinese Taipei, looks far-fetched reality.
Chinese Taipei had defeated Czech Republic in the round robin round 7-2.
A close battle is on the cards, but it unlikely that the Czechs can upset Chinese Taipei who will have their home crowd rooting for them.
Czech maybe powered by their by their solid hitting Katerina Slanska and are physically bigger and stronger than the Chinese Taipei players, but the latter are a tactically better team and play clinical game to outdo their opponents.
“We are glad that we are in the final game. I think we are also well prepared for the next game. I really believe that the key will be our pitchers and our strength is our offence. The kids are prepared for any situations (against Chinese Taipei),” said Czech Republic head coach Jana Klempirova.
Today against Singapore, Chinese Taipei made three home runs, including an out-of-park homer by Wu Yu-Yang.
Wu Sheng-Zhi and Wu Yu-Yang hit two of the three home runs that powered Chinese Taipei to confirm their title defence bid.
Czech, on the other hand, saw Natalie Budinova had two hits and three RBIs to lead their victory over Hong Kong for a place in the final.
Natalie Budinova, Sebastian Mckeon, Adam Sladek and Marketa Slucova recorded multiple hits as they bulldozed their way to the final.
“I let everyone focus on this game first. I have delegated the task to the trainers on what to instruct the players and told them to just play as they usually do. We have been mixing it up each game and we adjusted the positions of the players each time. The focus is mostly on the situation of our pitchers and giving each one a chance to go on the field and have a feel of the game,” said Chinese Taipei head coach Wu Chi Tsu.
Singapore and Hong Kong will battle for third spot at 11.00 am tomorrow, while the final between Chinese Taipei will follow at 1.00pm
Today’s Results:
Quarter final elimination round:
Singapore beat India 10-0
Semifinals:
Czech Republic v Hong Kong 16-1
Chinese Taipei beat Singapore 15-0
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