2023 Asian Women’s Softball Championship
Blu Girls yield to Chinese Taipei, miss podium but secure World Cup berth
Completes four Asian representatives
The Philippine women’s national softball team will return to the world stage.
After missing the previous edition, the Blu Girls qualified for the 2024 Women’s Softball World Cup by entering the top four of the nine-nation 2023 Asian Women’s Softball Championship held at Songdo LNG Baseball Stadium in Incheon, South Korea from April 2–8.
The Philippines missed the podium after absorbing a 10–5 beating in the hands of bronze medal winner Chinese Taipei but still advance to the World Cup.
Originally, only three berths are allocated to Asian teams but thanks to the wildcard entry given by the tournament to the Asian Qualifiers’ fourth placer, the Blu Girls also got a vie.
It is the country’s eighth appearance in the World Cup and first since 2018, with the Blu Girls missing the 2022 meet.
Finishing fourth after the single-round preliminaries, the Philippines faced Chinese Taipei in the battle for third. The Taiwanese side overwhelmed the Filipinas, 5–0, in the elimination phase.
Unlike their first encounter, a slugfest in the first inning unveiled with the Blu Girls scoring four runs before Chinese Taipei cut the deficit by bringing home three runners.
In the next inning, the RP team added another run and blanked the Taiwanese.
However, they couldn’t sustain momentum, as Chinese Taipei’s superb hitting rewarded them with seven more runs to end the match in the seventh inning via the mercy rule.
Despite falling short of a medal, the performance of the Blu Girls remains commendable, as all players are Filipina — a rare feat in almost a decade.
“This is huge accomplishment given that this is an All-Filipina team, the first in nine years. We at ASAPHIL will ensure that they get the preparations and exposure they need to be battle ready against the world’s best in the World Cup in July,” Amateur Softball Association of the Philippines (ASAPHIL) President Jean Henri Lhuillier said.
Blu Girls’ brief Asian Qualifiers stint
Coach Randy Dizer and company began their campaign in the 2023 Asian qualifying perfectly with an unblemished 3–0 win-loss record, claiming victories over Hong Kong (7–0) and South Korea (2–0) on April 2 and Thailand (10–0) on April 3.
Come their fourth game, the Blue Girls got a reality check with Chinese Taipei dominating them, 5–0.
From there, the Philippines went up and down, finishing the preliminaries with an even 2–2 mark.
On April 4, they routed Singapore, 8–1, before China thumped them, 6–2. Two days after, the Philippines demolished India, 10–0, which guaranteed them a ticket to the World Cup after the South Koreans succumbed to the Japanese, 11–0.
On the last day of elims, April 7, Japan failed the RP team of an upset, crashing the latter with a dominant 9–1 victory.
Close but not quite. That was the story for the Philippines in the bronze medal game. Momentum shifted the Taiwanese’s way after the Filipinas’ strong start. Calm and disciplined, Chinese Taipei ended up finishing third.
Still, the girls made the nation proud of what they have achieved, which was putting the Philippines back on the map exclusive for the best softball countries.
Blu Girls in Group C of World Cup
The fourth place finish put the 30th-ranked Philippines in Group C and will play alongside Asian champion Japan (2), which beat China in the finals, 6–0, Canada (4), Italy (8), Venezuela (22), and New Zealand (28).
Meanwhile, Chinese Taipei (3) will compete against defending champion the United States of America (1), Australia (9), Great Britain (16), Ireland (17), and Botswana (47) in Group A.
Silver medalist China (13) is in Group B with Puerto Rico (5), the Netherlands (10), Spain (11), Cuba (27), and South Africa (39).
The 2024 Women’s Softball World Cup is the 18th staging of the WBSC or World Softball Baseball Confederation-sanctioned event to take place in Dublin, Ireland; Buttrio, Italy; and Valencia, Spain from July 11–26, 2023. Safe to say, it is a World Cup of Firsts.
For the first time, more than one nation will host the tournament, with Ireland, Italy, and Spain selected in their first-ever hosting of a major softball event.
Moreover, the first WBSC to follow a two-stage format — a group stage, a single-round robin, and finals, knockout games, is scheduled in 2024 in Italy.
