Blu Girls wind up fourth in Asian softball

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Blu Girls bowed to the region’s powerhouse teams but beat Hong Kong and South Korea to finish fourth in the Asian Women’s Softball Championship topped by China in Kaohshiung, Taiwan recently.

The Blu Girls dropped their first three games to the Taiwanese, Chinese and Japanese but bounced back with back-to-back victories over the Hongkongites and South Koreans to reach the playoffs.

But they fell again to the Chinese-Taipei side and settled for fourth while China edged Japan, 2-1, in the finals to capture the crown.

Despite the Blu Girls’ fourth-place effort, the Amateur Softball Association of the Philippines (ASAPHIL) is looking ahead to the team’s stint in next year’s Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea.

“The team has certainly shown improvement in terms of speed and batting but needs to work on its overall fielding accuracy and fitness,” said ASAPHIL president Jean Henri Lhuillier, who supported the Blu Girls in Taiwan.

A young, promising team, the current 25-woman training pool includes 17 players who saw action in Taipei. It will resume its intensive training in January next year to prepare for the Incheon Asiad.

“Actually our team was only re-activated three months prior to the Asian Women’s Championship, that’s why for next year, we will start our training early,” said ASAPHIL operations manager Jun Veloso. “We also plan to field the Blu Girls in the men’s Open division of the National Softball Championship next summer to toughen them up and we are looking at giving the team the needed international exposure before the Asian Games.”

Since most of the members of the national team come from the collegiate ranks, ASAPHIL is planning to expand the 25-member pool to 30 players right after the UAAP and SCUAA softball seasons next year.