Japan and Singapore qualified for the WBSC U-18 Men’s Softball World Cup, to be held in Palmerston North, New Zealand, 22 February to 1 March 2020 from the qualifier in the Asia Cup U17 Men’s Softball held in Malaysia.
Japan and Singapore qualified for the WBSC U-18 Men’s Softball World Cup, to be held in Palmerston North, New Zealand, 22 February to 1 March 2020 from the qualifier in the Asia Cup U17 Men’s Softball held in Malaysia.
A total of six nations competed in the five-day Asia Cup U17 Men’s Softball tournament, namely World No. 3 Japan, No. 16 India, No. 17 Philippines, No. 22 Singapore, No. 30 Thailand and No. 33 host Malaysia.
Japan were a class above the rest of the countries and ended the tournament unbeaten in the seven matches they played, to win the title.
Japan secured its place in the World Cup defeating Singapore, 12-0, in the first semifinal of the tournament; while Singapore had to beat India in the second semifinal, 8-1, to seal the second spot. With the top two finishers qualified for the U-18 Men’s Softball World Cup 2020, Japan defeated Singapore, 15-0, in the final to clinch the 2019 U-17 Men’s Softball Asian Cup title.
“Congratulations Japan and Singapore for qualifying to represent Asia in the WBSC U-18 Men’s Softball World Cup 2020”, said Softball Asia president Datuk Low Beng Beng at the prize giving and fellowship dinner at the end of the tournament.
“You will be up against the best in the age-group at the World Cup next year, and we certainly need to prepared to the best to meet the challenge.
“Japan will definitely be looking forward to avenging their last Under-19 World Cup defeat and emerge champions. Wish you the very best and looking forward to Japan doing proud to Asia.
“It is indeed an honour for Softball Asia to organise this inaugural Under-17 Men Softball Asia Cup in collaboration with Softball Association of Malaysia. We are indeed grateful to SAM for standing in on such short notice to take over the challenging responsibility to be the local host,” added Low, who is also the secretary-general of the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC).
Japan participated in all 12 Junior Men’s Softball World Championships, winning the tournament twice in 1981 and 2016. Last year in Prince Albert they finished in second place, losing to Australia in the World Championship game.
Singapore will be back to the youth global stage after six years of absence. Their last appearance was in 2014 in Whitehorse, Canada.
Malaysia ended up wooden spoonist when they narrowly lost 3-4 to Thailand in the fifth and sixth placing match.
Malaysia went into the match on high spirits after having upset high flying and finalist Singapore, 14-9, in their final Group match on Wednesday. They had lost four consecutive games in the Group matches before that.
“A few couple of bad calls from the umpire which ruled out our players in the first base affected our performance,” said coach Lee Keat Seng.
“Then, we made some mistakes outfield which further allowed Thailand to claw back into the game,” said team manager Abdul Razak Abdullah.
“We are disappointed with this loss because the game was for our taking. The team was in high morale after our victory over Singapore and were also bent on avenging our Group match defeat by Thailand (0-3),” added Razak.
“Our inexperience in playing international tournaments, nervousness of the players, our short period of training and only able to play one friendly match before the tournament, were among the reasons for our poor performance in the tournament.
“This team has good attitude and have future, but need to be molded over a longer period and given more international exposure either through tournaments or friendly matches.”
FINAL STANDINGS – U-17 Men’s Softball Asian Cup
1. Japan
2. Singapore
3. India
4. Philippines
5. Thailand
6. Malaysia
INDIVIDUAL AWARDS:
1. Stolen Base: Ignatius Ong Qi Zhi (Singapore)
2. Best Batter: Hitto Nagayoshi (Japan)
3. Best Slugger: Ibuki Onishi (Japan)
4. Best Pitcher: Takuro Inagaki (Japan)
5. Most Valuable Player: Rui Mimoto
