The battle to avoid ending up being the wooden spoonist in the inaugural U18 Women Softball Asia Cup 2023 tournament in Pingtan, China, began this morning, with South Korea moving away from the zone, with their 8-1 victory over India in the first placement match.
While Korea were supposed to have an easy match against India, it took them sometime to settle down and it was India who took the lead in the first inning with a run.
Korea leveled terms with India, when they picked up a run in the second inning, before going onto top gear in the fourth inning to have five runs to take a 6-1 lead.
While India besides their pitcher Goud Rashi, who was giving some problems for the Korean batters, they had problems matching the Koreans, to given a much keener battle.
Korean went on to do what was enough to secure victory when they went on to pick up a run in the fifth and sixth inning to conclude the game at 8-1.
In the second placement match of the day, where close battle was anticipated, Singapore surprised to prevail with a huge win 17-2 over four innings against Hong Kong who went without a win in four matches in the competition.
There was expectations that the match will be close as Hong Kong batted first to have two runs in their bag before Singapore came on to level the runs in the first inning.
But after Hong Kong failed, to increase their runs in the second inning, all hell broke loose for them as Singapore went on overdrive to capitalise on the former’s mistakes and nervousness as they chalked 11 runs for 13-2 lead.
Hong Kong never recovered from the second inning disaster as they went into the third inning and failed to make a comeback, as Singapore scored another four runs in the bottom, for an impressive win.
All indications are that Hong Kong will be fighting tooth and nail against India tomorrow morning to bring home their first win in the competition and avoid finishing at the bottom of the ranking for teams in this competition.
TODAY’S RESULTS
SOUTH KOREA (Group A third placed) 8 INDIA (fourth placed Group B) 1 – Placement #2
SINGAPORE 17 (Group B third placed team) V HONG KONG 2 (Group A fourth placed team) – Placement # 1
PHILIPPINES (Runner-up Group A) v JAPAN (Group B champion) – Super Round#2
CHINA (Group A champion) v CHINESE TAIPEI (Group B runners-up) – Super Round #1
YESTERDAY’S GROUP RESULTS
India 0 Chinese Taipei 7 (match forfeited although India arrived and as they had missed two earlier Group matches. India fielded a team and played Chinese Taipei in a friendly and lost 0-9 loss)
Japan 24 Singapore 0
Korea 1 Philippines 11
China 17 Hong Kong 0
WEDNESDAY’S RESULTS
India 0 v Singapore 7 (match forfeited as India has not arrived)
Hong Kong 3 Korea 12
Japan 8 Chinese Taipei 0
China 11 Philippines 0
TUESDAY’S RESULTS:
Philippines 7 Hong Kong 0
India 0 v Japan 7 (match forfeited as India failed to show-up)
Singapore 2 Chinese Taipei 15
China 10 Korea 0
FINAL STANDINGS AFTER COMPLETION OF GROUP ROUND:
GROUP A
- China
- Philippines
- South Korea
- Hong Kong
GROUP B
- Japan
- Chinese Taipei
- Singapore
- India
TOMORROW’S FIXTURES (SECOND DAY SUPER ROUND AND PLACEMENT MATCHES)
9.00am: HONG KONG (fourth placed team in Group A) v INDIA (fourth placed Group B) – Placement #3
11.00am: SOUTH KOREA (Group A third placed) v SINGAPORE (third placed team in Group B) – Placement # 4
3.30pm: PHILIPPINES (Runner-up Group A) v CHINESE TAIPEI (Group B runners-up) – Super Round #3
5.30pm: CHINESE TAIPEI (Group B runners-up) – Super Round #1 V JAPAN (Group B champion) – Super Round#4