RP-China softball opener rained out

NANJING, China — Inclement weather and unplayable conditions forced the cancellation of the keenly-awaited debut of Team Philippines against fancied China in the seventh Junior Women’s World Softball Championship at the Nanjing University of Technology grounds here Sunday.

No less than American Don Porter, president of the International Softball Federation, announced the postponement in a briefing held at the Daji Resort and Spa with media and representatives of participating delegations.

"We’ve decided to postpone the games because of the weather and make little adjustments in schedule," said Porter, who was here to personally oversee the staging of this eight-day quadrennial meet for softbelles aged 19 years old and below.

Porter also announced that the opening ceremony prepared by the Chinese students will be held simultaneously with the closing rites set Oct. 20 also at the venue, built primarily for this event at a staggering cost of $2.2 million.

Manila Congressman Harry Angping (Third District), head of the 23-man RP delegation, said the postponement favored the Filipinos since it gave them time to rest and prepare for the vaunted Chinese, who have been preparing all year long for this tournament.

"It’s good for us since it gave us one more day to prepare and rest a bit," said Angping. "We just hope this postponement will help us against the Chinese pero sa tingin ko kaya naman natin sila."

The Team Philippines’ stint here is backed by Century Tuna, Oishi, Liwayway Marketing, Cathay Pacific Steel, the Philippine Sports Commission, Pagcor, Ambassador for Chinese Affairs John Ng, Dowell Packaging, Larry Villareal, Colours and China Water Inc.

Composed mainly of veteran internationalists selected from various collegiate schools in Manila, the Blu Girls will be spearheaded by the pitching duo of Esmeralda Tayag and Geda Valencia.

RP coach Roberto Ituralde is expected to start the 19-year-old Tayag, a third year education student at Santo Tomas, with Valencia, a resident of Pasig City who is also studying at UST, to close the match.

"Ganun pa rin strategy natin, si Tayag muna dahil maganda ang control niya tapos si Valencia naman, sanay kasi sa fastball ang mga Intsik," said Ituralde, who is assisted by La Salle baseball team mentor Isaac Bacarisasa and University of the East women’s softball coach Ramon Oncinian.

Meanwhile, the second seeded United States face the Netherlands at 9 a.m. Monday followed by the 11 a.m. match between 1999 edition third placer Chinese-Taipei and Argentina. The RP-China duel will instead be played at 1 p.m.

Other games pit Australia versus Korea at 3 p.m., Czech Republic against New Zealand at 5 p.m. and Canada versus Russia at 7.

Defending champion Japan drew a bye and is scheduled for a double-header against New Zealanda and Korea on Tuesday, respectively.

Jess Yabez, RP’s Consul General to Shanghai and four other cities and province including Nanjing, arrived from Shanghai with about 25 other Filipinos, mostly workers of RP team sponsor Oishi and staff of Yabez at the consulate, to cheer for the Blu Girls.

"We’re here to personally cheer for our team," said Yabez, a former ambassador to Singapore.

After a few inspirational words and handshakes, all but Yabez went back to Shanghai. Yabez stayed put to watch RP’s game against the host squad and is set to leave right after it to attend to some of the functions he left in Shanghai.

Softball notes: October was supposed to be an ideal month to host outdoor events like softball but rains did fall to the surprise of local folks with the temperature dropping to 12-18 degrees centigrade. "The weather is weird," said a Chinese liaison officer. The freezing cold, however, did not prevent the Blu Girls from practicing at Nanjing’s practice field in preparation for their game against the Chinese.