Today’s fixtures in the Women Softball Asia Cup 2023 at the Songdo LNG Sports Town Stadium have been postponed to tomorrow because of continuous rain which has made both the pitches unplayable.
As the weather forecast today, it was raining from overnight which made the pitch flooded, soggy and unplayable.
Tournament Director, Datuk Low Beng Choo, who is also the Softball Asia president, together with Deputy Tournament Director, See Kok Wooi, Technical Commissioners, Woo Jisuk and Lee Chong Fai Cherfy, umpire director, Paulo Tabirara and assistant umpire director, Rosli Ismail, inspected both the pitches, and decided that it was best to postpone today’s fixtures in the best interest of all.
“We could play a few matches, but that would permanently make pitches unplayable as it will be damaged because of the soggy condition and continuously raining,” said Beng Choo.
“The ground is also slippery and it dangerous for the players.
“Thus, in the best interest of the safety of the players and getting the ground conditions to the best condition for the remaining fixtures, we decided to postpone the matches to rest the field and also not keeping the teams in a limbo as to what time they will be playing or whether they are playing.
“At least with the postponement, the teams can plan their day without any anxiety.”
Low said a new revised scheduled will be drafted and sent to all teams.
“We have no problem with rescheduling and completing the fixtures because in our original fixtures for Thursday, Friday and Saturday was only for half a day fixture, thus we have ample time to slot in the postponed matches.
“At the worst scenario, we can even do away with some of the placement fixtures as all teams have played a round robin fixture earlier and their final standing can be used for the final placement.”
The end of the round robin rounds will determine the semifinals lineup (the top four teams in the standings advance to the semifinals – first place vs fourth place; second place vs third place .
The top four in the Women Softball Asia Cup 2023, qualify to the to the XVII WBSC Women’s Softball World Cup in July in Europe.
The 14 nations who have been already confirmed and allocated in their respective groups are:
- Group A: Ireland (host), Australia, Botswana, Great Britain, USA and Asia 3 (third qualified teamfrom Incheon).
- Group B: Spain (host), Cuba, Netherlands, Puerto Rico, South Africa and Asia 2 (second qualified team from Incheon).
- Group C: Italy (host), Canada, New Zealand, Venezuela, Asia 1 (top qualified team from Incheon)and a Wild Card for Asia (fourth placed team in Incheon).
Ireland and Spain have received each a Wild Card as hosts of a group stage, while the third Wild Card is for Asia.
The WBSC Women’s Softball World Cup will start with Group A in Dublin and Fingal, Ireland, from 11-15 July; followed by Group B in Valencia, Spain, from 18-22 July; and Group C in Castions di Strada and Buttrio, Italy, from 22-26 July.
The top two teams from each group of the Group Stage, plus two Wild Cards, will advance to the eight-team World Cup Finals 2024 in Italy.
Japan, who finished second, Chinese Taipei (ninth), China (10th) and the Philippines (14th) participated in the last edition of the WBSC Women’s Softball World Cup in 2018.
TODAY’S RESULTS (MATCHES POSTPONED)
Korea Singapore
Japan Hong Kong
India Philippines
Thailand Chinese Taipei
Japan Korea
Chinese Taipei Singapore
China Thailand
India Hong Kong