The Philippines on Thursday had the chance to book a berth in the WBSC Women’s World Cup Finals to be held in the US next year. Unfortunately, the country’s top Filipina batters couldn’t capitalise, falling to Chinese Taipei and Venezuela in consecutive games to end their campaign in Tainan, Taiwan, in heartbreak.
The Filipinas started the day with a showdown against the hosts and world No. 6 Chinese Taipei. They entered with considerable momentum, having won back‑to‑back games the day before after dispatching world No. 7 Cuba, 6‑0, and then routing world No. 15 Great Britain, 6‑2. All that momentum, though, couldn’t push the Philippines to a third straight stunner as Chinese Taipei took control early and never gave the Filipinas a sliver of hope in a methodical 8‑2 victory.
Venezuela, ranked fifth in the world, followed, and the script wasn’t any different. Facing a do‑or‑die against the Venezuelans, the Filipinas again couldn’t conjure any more magic as they lost, 10‑0, in a dominant showing by the Latin American nation and perennial baseball powerhouse.
Philippines Showed Out Nonetheless
With those two losses, the Philippines ended its WBSC Women’s World Cup campaign at 2‑3—a win away from booking that ticket to the US. It was a sour ending to what was shaping up to be a stunning stint on the international stage, but it just wasn’t meant to be.
Despite not having a storybook finish, the country’s best women’s baseball players proved they belong at the elite level of the sport. Before the twin defeats on Thursday, the Philippines had already given a good account of itself in the tournament, holding world No. 1 Japan to a tight game before falling to a 3‑0 defeat and then shocking both Cuba and Great Britain on Wednesday.
With those two wins, the Philippines will go home with a better record overall than the seventh‑ranked Cubans, who finished at 1‑4, and the fifteenth‑ranked Britons, who went winless. That’s something to be proud of in itself given the quality of opposition the Filipinas faced. It should also give the national team hope moving forward, knowing they can hang with the very best in the sport.
