Philippine Blu Girls slam Singapore, 13-0, to stay in hunt for World Cup group stage berth in Xi’an

THE Philippines overpowered Southeast Asian rival Singapore, 13-0, on Thursday to stay in the hunt for a World Cup group stage berth in the Women’s Softball Asia Cup in Xi’an, China.

It was the Cebuana Lhuillier-backed Blu Girls’ fifth win in six outings that propelled them to solo third, or just a shade behind the powerhouse Japanese and hosts Chinese, who were both unbeaten in six matches.

“Our momentum is building and the girls are more cohesive with every inning. Wednesday’s win shows how they’re translating that confidence into results,” said Amateur Softball Association of the Philippines Chief Jean Henri Lhuillier.

The Filipinas, who were battling the Chinese in the second part of their double-header schedule on Thursday, were eyeing one of the three slots to the bracket phase of next year’s World Cup in this 10-nation field.

To achieve that, it would need to finish in the top two after the round-robin elimination stage to automatically advance, or, end up in the top four where it would have one more match to claim the third and last spot there.

Already, the Blu Girls have booked one of the eight seats to next year’s Asian Games in Japan. — Joey Villar