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JAKARTA, Indonesia – After proving that they could be one of the best in Asia – and even in the world – in 2017, the Philippine Blu Girls failed to crack into the Asian Games podium yet again.
Despite a fantastic 4-1 start, the national women’s softball team missed the chance to secure at least a bronze medal in the continental meet.
All the Blu Girls needed was a win to break the curse that had haunted them for so long. But rival Chinese-Taipei spoiled their bid twice – in the last elimination round match on Wednesday, August 22 and in the semifinal round the next day.
“[A medal] was really on top of our minds. We wanted to make history this time around and we really thought we would, but it just didn’t fall through,” lamented team captain Cheska Altomonte.
The Nationals suffered a heartbreaking 2-3 loss to the the Taiwanese despite having bases-loaded situations thrice, then absorbed another semifinal setback against them in a 6-3 decision on Thursday, August 23.
The Blu Girls were one of the favorites to land on the podium following their silver-medal run in the Asian Championships and their successful campaigns in 2017, including the Canada Cup where they defeated top-ranked teams.
However, the team noted the lack of international exposure in 2018 compared to the previous year, which likely cost them since they had less time to jell.
After the Asian Championships, the Blu Girls were supposed to participate in the World Cup and Canada Cup again, but plans were eventually scrapped. The team only managed to join the World Championships, which was held right before the Asian Games.
“The Philippine team, we don’t get a lot of international exposure, we don’t get a lot of games, we don’t have a lot of teams to play in the Philippines so it would be nice to have a lot more international exposure and games against these world-ranked teams,” added Altomonte.
Although the Philippines settled for the same fourth-place result, the Blu Girls still hold their heads up high as they prepare for the Olympic qualifiers and the 2019 Southeast Asian Games where they vie to defend their tiaras. – Rappler.com
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