MANILA, Philippines – Since the rise of Philippine softball in the 1970s, the Blu Girls are still vying to rule one key tournament – the Asian Games. 

Although they’re the Queens of Southeast Asia, the country’s best result in the continental meet was at 4th place in the 2014 edition at Incheon. But the Blu Girls think they can surpass that after clinching a silver in the 2017 Asian Softball Championships.

“The main goal of the Asian Games is to make a podium finish. We’re up against the same teams we played against in the Asian Championships where we won silver, so of course, we want to repeat that or win gold of course,” said captain Cheska Altomonte. 

During the sport’s golden age in the country, the Blu Girls copped third place in the Softball World Championships in 1970 and a gold in the Asian Championships in 1972.

 But the Philippines – which bagged the gold in all 9 editions of the Southeast Asian Games – showed signs of peaking again as the Blu Girls stunned several powerhouse squads in the 2017 Asian Championships. 

Now, the new-look softball team hopes to keep that success going in the 2018 Asian Games where the Blu Girls will kick off their campaign on Sunday, August 19 at the GBK Softball field in Jakarta. – Rappler.com