CHINESE Taipei defeated the Philippines, 10-5, in the battle for third place in the Women Softball Asia Cup 2023 on Saturday at the Songdo LNG Stadium in Incheon, Korea.
The Philippine Blu Girls missed the podium finish in the battle for the bronze medal after squandering a four-run lead in the first inning.
See Blu Girls clinch World Cup spot after entering top four of Asia Cup
It was still a solid finish for the Blu Girls, who formally got the wildcard spot in the 2024 Women Softball World Cup after placing fourth in the tournament.
Chia Hui Ko blasted a two-run home run for Chinese Taipei in the fifth inning, a huge follow-up to a three-run third that enabled them to grab a 6-5 lead.
Amateur Softball Association of the Philippines president Jean Henri Lhuillier praised the effort of the Cebuana Lhuillier-backed squad for clinching a berth in the World Cup while proving that they can compete against Asia’s best as proven by their play in the bronze medal match where they even led 5-3 at the end of the third inning.
“I'm so proud with how our girls competed each game. They went toe to toe with the best of Asia and they showed they deserve that World Cup slot,” said Lhuillier.
“We will now focus on preparing them for the World Cup and we will ensure that they get the proper training and exposure for that world class competition in July,” said Lhuillier.
“This competition showed that our team can compete with the rest of them especially this bronze medal match against World number 3 Chinese-Taipei. We were up by 2 after 2 innings. We just need to continue improving each day at training,” said head coach Randy Dizer.
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