Korea took the bronze medal after defeating Singapore in the third placing match 9-2 this morning in the 3rd Asian Universities Women Softball Asia Cup 2022 at Rugby International schools ground on pitch A in Pattaya, Thailand.
Korea felt that they should have been playing in the final, instead of Chinese Taipei.
“Yes it is a consolation that we return with the bronze medal, but we came here to reach the final and probably return with the gold medal because we were runners-up in the inaugural competition.” said coach Lee Hoojung.
Korea lost to host Chinese Taipei 11-0 in 2016 in Taichung.
“I still cannot believe that we lost to Chinese Taipei on Friday in a tie-breaker. We should have wrapped up the match earlier.
“But it is pointless talking about it now, because we cannot change anything, expect return wiser from the experience.”
On today’s match, Lee said her team was better prepared than when they met in the Group B round robin match, when she had no information of the Singapore team when they won 7-0.
“The team certainly played better today although the result may suggest otherwise. Singapore definitely played, probably after their morale boosting victory over Thailand 11-1 to book their place for the bronze medal match.”
Singapore, on the other hand, despite their loss, were happy because they had improved on their last tournament of fifth finish.
“We came here with a mission to better our last tournament’s finish and we did. Of course, winning the bronze medal would have been an icing to our performance here,” said Singapore’s Japanese coach Aiko Nakumura.
“We also did better than our earlier 7-0 loss as we managed to get 2 runs,” said Nakumura who is also a panel of coaches with Singapore national team.
The team here has been in training for four months, since Nakumura arrived in Singapore, as the Singapore University team comprising four Universities, is 70 percent of the national team.
“Our participation here is also part of the exposure plan for the national players and long term preparation.
“Our target is to do well in the Asia Cup and Asian Games next year.”
BRONZE MEDAL RESULTS
(Bronze Medal) Korea 9 Singapore 2