Japan had expected a close match against Chinese Taipei in the inaugural U18 Women Softball Asia Cup 2023 tournament final this afternoon in Pingtan, China, but in the end, were thanking their lucky stars they won by a solitary run.
It was final where pitchers of both teams – Japan’s Shino Oguri and Chinese Taipei’s Emroy Cheng – held court, but it was Japan’s second batter Soa Shimanaka’s hit in the first inning, which saw her reach second base and ran home off an error by Chinese Taipei, which turned out to be the winner.
Japans’s coach Yuhei Yamauchi, was relieved man when Chinese Taipei was prevented from equaling the score at the final top inning, for them to push for a win.
“I had expected a close encounter from Chinese Taipei being a final and having played earlier (won 8-0) in the Group encounter, but never expected it to go down to the wire like this,” said a relived Yamauchi.
“I must admit that although we were a better all round team, today we had luck on our side.
“Their pitcher (Cheng) who started, made a lot difference, which made our offensive play difficult. My players themselves were not at their best in offensive play.
“But I must commend my players for holding on to the slim early lead. It was indeed a difficult game and I must commend Chinese Taipei for their performance today.”
Chinese Taipei’s coach, Kao Chun-Sheng, who had on the eve of the final said his team only had 20 percent chance to win in the final, said after the final: “We were so close to win,yet so far.
“We certainly had an equal chance to win the game today. I am very satisfied with the performance of my team, but it would have been better if we had won.”
Kao agreed that the two pitchers made a key difference in the close match.
“I took a gamble to field youngster, Emroy, as first choice pitcher and it paid off.
“She is a talented pitcher, but lacks experience and that is why had I had not used her as my starting pitcher. But today I decided to take the gamble and also surprise Japan,and she was outstanding and made a difference to our performance,” said Kao.
Emroy is only 16 years old.
Indeed, it was a close and nail biting final and the game of softball was the winner as it had the spectators at the edge of their seats.
Japan, Chinese Taipei host China who had finished third in the eight nation tournament when they had defeated Philippines 6-1 in the third placing match in the morning, have also qualified for the World Cup, whose host has yet to be decided.
TODAY’S RESULTS
China 6 Philippines 1 (Bronze Medal)
Chinese Taipei 0 Japan 1 (Gold Medal)
FINAL RANKINGS AFTER TOURNAMENT:
- JAPAN (U18 Women Asia Cup 2023 Champion)
- CHINESE TAIPEI (Runner-up – silver medal)
- CHINA (Third placed – bronze medal)
- PHILIPPINES
- KOREA
- SINGAPORE
- INDIA
- HONG KONG
(Top three ranked teams qualify for World Cup)
YESTERDAY’S RESULTS
HONG KONG 1 (fourth placed team in Group A) v INDIA 2 (fourth placed Group B) – Placement #3
SOUTH KOREA 15 (Group A third placed) v SINGAPORE 1 (third placed team in Group B) – Placement # 4
PHILIPPINES 0 (Runner-up Group A) v CHINESE TAIPEI 5 (Group B runners-up) – Super Round #3
CHINA 1 (Group A champion) – Super Round #1 V JAPAN 8 (Group B champion) – Super Round#4
FRIDAY’S RESULTS
HONG KONG 2 (fourth placed team in Group A) v SINGAPORE 17 (third placed team in Group B) – Placement # 2
SOUTH KOREA 8 (Group A third placed) v INDIA 2 (fourth placed Group B) – Placement #1
PHILIPPINES 0 (Runner-up Group A) v JAPAN 12 (Group B champion) – Super Round#2
CHINA 6 (Group A champion) v CHINESE TAIPEI 8 (Group B runners-up) – Super Round #1
THURSDAY’S 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 STADINGS AFTER GROUP ROUND:
GROUP A
- China
- Philippines
- South Korea
- Hong Kong
GROUP B
- Japan
- Chinese Taipei
- Singapore
- India