The Philippine Blu Girls assured themselves of a spot in the next round after scoring shutout victories in the first two days of the 2019 Asia Cup Women’s Softball Championship in Jakarta, Indonesia.
The Filipina softballers, ranked No.13 in the world, posted a 13-0 victory against Singapore via mercy rule in their first assignment Wednesday morning as pitchers Royevel Palma and Lyca Basa combined for nine strikeouts.
In the afternoon, the Blu Girls blanked Hong Kong, 10-0, also via mercy rule as Cristy Joy Roa, Cheska Altomonte, Angelie Ursabia and Fil-Ams Chelsea Suitos, Sky Ellazar and Amber Freeman scored homeruns in the game.
The team scored its third straight win Thursday morning—an 8-0 blanking of host Indonesia behind the heroics of Palma, Basa, Roa and Ezra Jalandoni.
Amateur Softball Association of the Philippines president Jean Henri Lhuillier congratulated the girls for their impressive start in the tournament, which serves as a qualifier for the WBSC Softball Asia/Oceania 2019 Qualifying Event for 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
“Their three straight victories ensured that our Philippine Blu Girls made an impression against their competitors. We are in Jakarta to win, with a spot at the Tokyo 2020 qualifiers as our final goal,” Lhuillier said.
The top six teams in the Asia Cup aside from Olympic Games host Japan will advance to the Olympic qualifier to be played in Shanghai, China in September. The winner of that tournament will earn the right to compete in the Olympics when softball is played for the first time since 2008.
The Blu Girls, runners-up in the Asia Cup last year, take on No. 6-ranked Chinese Taipei for their final assignment in Group B Friday morning.
Defending champion Japan is in Group B along with China, Korea, India and Thailand.