Pictures by Eagle Photography
IT was a proud moment for the parents and players of the Philippines who booked their World cup berth when they defeated Korea convincingly 10-0 in bronze medal play-off in the U15 Women’s Softball Asia Cup at the Softball Stadium in Puli Township, Nantou, Chinese Taipei, this afternoon.
The Philippines team funded by five parents of players in the team, were a last minute replacement to the actual team to come to Puli, because Amateur Softball Association of the Philippines , did not have funds to send a team.
It was then, that Mi’Ann Oblea, a parent of a player and also actively involved in softball in Metro Manila, was contacted by the association to ask if they could raise a team and fund them to Puli.
Mi’Ann, together with another parent, Giovanni Mapa, got to work immediately as their youth teams are actively involved in the Little League in Manila.
They managed to rope in three private schools – St Pedro Poveda College, Mimam College and Immaculate Conception Academy from Metro Manila – and two Public
Schools – San Miguel National High School from Bulacan and Rizal High School from Pasiq – to form a team.
And the rest is history.
“I am really overwhelmed by this success, although we finished only third, but have qualified for the World Cup,” said head coach Annalyn Ebreo.
The third placed team qualifies for the World Cup to take the two Asian tickets allocated, as Japan, who are in the final against hosts, Chinese Taipei, qualify automatically as host of the World Cup in October, while the latter qualify to take the first ticket, no matter whether they win or lose the final.
“The players indeed raised the game to the next well playing well both in defensive and offensive. Of course the carrot for a World Cup motivated the players highly,” said Annalyn whose team had ten hits and one error.
“This is a great day for grassroots softball in Philippines, as it underlines that the game can flourish with support of parents.
“All credit to the parents and players who made this happen here.”
Korean head coach Lee SangHyun although disappointment they could not avenge their preliminary round match against Philippines, when they went down 1-2 narrowly, he gave credit to his opponents for raising their game to another level.
“Philippines certainly did much better than they did when we went down narrowly earlier. We tried our best but it was not enough,” said Lee.
“Also my players were a little nervous because of the pressure to win to win to qualify for the World Cup.”
Lee said that he was still proud of his team who gave their best and have tremendous potential to go far in the future.
Korea will be Asia’s first stand-by just in case there is any withdrawals, although highly unlikely.
Meanwhile, in the 5th and 6th placement match, Hong Kong had to dig deep into their reserves to defeat Singapore 3-2 in the seventh tie-breaker inning, after the score was at deadlock at 2-2 at the final fifth inning, to finish fifth.
Singapore were bent to seek revenge of the preliminary round 0-2 defeat to Hong Kong and took a 2 run lead in the very first top inning.
And it took Hong Kong the third inning to pull level and in the final fifth inning had the opportunity to finish victors, but errors gave Singapore life again for the game to be decided in tie breaker.
It was Singapore who blew their chance this time around to emerge victors, and revenge their earlier defeat, when errors saw Hong Kong still in the race.
And it turned out, Hong Kong’s Wong Hing Hing single to right side, which saw Lee Cheuk Tung run home from second base, relieved their agony of wait for the victory.
Umpires for 3rd placing match:
HP: Chang Tsih-Yang (TPE); 1B: Hu Tsang Sheng (TPE); 2B: Chao Wei Pin (TPE); 3B: Mari Jinno (JPN); LF: Wu Hsin Yung (TPE); RF: Wang Akuo-Chin (TPE)
RESULTS:
TODAY’S RESULTS (FINAL DAY – SATURDAY)
Placement: PR#5 (HONG KONG) 3 PR#6 (SINGAPORE) 2 (tie breaker 7th inning win after 2-2 tie at end of fifth inning)
Bronze Medal: PR#3 (PHILIPPINES) 10 PR#4 (KOREA) 0
Gold Medal: PR#1 (JAPAN) PR#2 (CHINESE TAIPEI)
FINAL STANDING (after placement and bronze medal match :
1.
2.
- Philippines (qualified for World Cup for second berth for Asia)
- Korea
- Hong Kong
- Singapore
- India
(Footnote: Japan in the final, will qualify automatically to the World Cup as host, while Chinese Taipei, no matter what the result in the final, will book the first World Cup berth accorded to Asia.)
DAILY RESULTS
DAY 1 (JUNE 13 – TUESDAY):
Philippines 6 India 0
Japan 14 Singapore 0 (Run ahead win after 4 innings. The U15 plays a total of 5 innings)
Hong Kong 2 India 1
Philippines 2 Korea 1
Chinese Taipei v Singapore (match postponed owing to unplayable conditions after heavy rain).
DAY 2 (JUNE 14 – WEDNESDAY)
Chinese 15 Taipei 0 Singapore (postponed match from yesterday due to unplayable conditions after heavy rain).
Japan 10 India 0
Korea 17 Hong Kong 2
India 0 Chinese Taipei 16
Singapore 0 Hong Kong 2
Philippines 0 Japan 14
Chinese Taipei 9 Korea 0
DAY 3 – (JUNE 15 THURSDAY)
Korea 14 Singapore 0
Hong Kong 0 Chinese Taipei 16k
India 0 Korea 10
Japan 15 Hong Kong 0
Philippines 2 Chinese Taipei 4 (Game halted after 2 innings because pitch unplayable due to rain. Match to be continued now tomorrow morning 8am)
DAY 4 – JUNE 16 FRIDAY
Philippines 2 Chinese Taipei 4 (Game halted after 2 innings yesterday because pitch unplayable due to rain. Match continued this morning at 7.50am)
(Match continued from yesterday’s postponed tie)
Fulltime Result Philippines 5 Chinese Taipei 3
Japan 10 Korea 0
Philippines 10 Singapore 1
Japan 3 Chinese Taipei 0
India 0 Singapore 8
Hong Kong 0 Philippines 10