Asian Games 2018: Roundup from Women's Softball - Japan wins Gold, Taipei claims Silver, China settles for Bronze.

Softball at the 2018 Asian Games was held in Jakarta, Indonesia from 19 – 24 August 2018 at the GBK Softball field.

Seven nations are competing in the event which would be playing in a round robin league format to decide the Semi-final spots.

The participating nations according to their World Rankings are the top seeds Japan (2), Chinese Taipei (5), China (12), Philippines (15), South Korea (23), Hong Kong (43) and Indonesia (63).

At the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, Japan won the Gold, Chinese Taipei took Silver and China took the Bronze.

At the 2017 Asian Softball Championships in Taiwan, Japan once again took Gold, the Philippines got the Silver and Chinese Taipei settled for Bronze.

In the 2014 World Softball Championships in the Netherlands, Japan took top honors finishing First. Chinese Taipei was placed 5th, China finished 7th.

At the 2016 World Softball Championships in Canada, Japan had to settle for a Silver, China finished 7th, Chinese Taipei was placed 11th, the Philippines took the 13th spot.

At the recently concluded 2018 World Softball Championships in Japan, the host took the silver after being defeated by the USA, Chinese Taipei was placed 9th, China 10th and the Philippines took the 13th spot.

Japan is odds-on favorites to claim the Gold, with Taipei, China, and the Philippines fighting for the Silver and Bronze.

Final Standings

1 - Japan, 2- Chinese Taipei, 3 - China, 4 - Philippines, 5 - South Korea, 6 - Indonesia, 7 - Hong Kong.

Women's Grand Final - Gold/Silver

Japan decimated Taipei to comprehensively win the Gold medal. They scored 3 runs in the first and 4 runs in the second and clinched the Gold as expected. Yukiko Ueno was the winning pitcher from Japan. Tu Yating (TPE) was the losing pitcher.

Japan (2) defeats Chinese Taipei (5) 7-0.

Women's Team Final - Bronze

WBSC Women's Softball World Championship - Day 2 — Chiu Anju (TPE)

Taipei had to bring in all their experience to thwart the spirited Chinese to move into the Gold medal match. Both the teams were locked 1-1 at the end of round 1. In the second end, China took the lead scoring 2 runs. Taipei had to wait till the 5th end to score 3 runs and regained the lead in the match. China pulled one back in the 6t end to tie it all up before Taipei scored in the 8th end to win the match. Chiu Anju (TPE) was the winning pitcher and Wang Lan of (CHN) was the losing pitcher.

Chinese Taipei (5) won against China (12) 5-4.

Semi-Finals:

Japan had an easy outing against China. They started off by scoring a single run in the first end. In the second and third end, they came up with 2 runs each to make it 5-0. Japan's Yamato Fujita was the winning pitcher while Chinese Zhao Xinxing was the losing pitcher.

Japan (2) defeats China (12) 5-0.

In what was believed to be a close semi-final, Taipei held the nerves to become victors and qualify for the Final. The first end was tied 1-1, and it took the 4th end for the deadlock to break when Taipei scored 2 runs. Taipei's Tu Yating had a good game. In a decisive 5th end Taipei held on to win 3-2. Sierra Arlyna Lange (PHI) was unable to prevent the Taipei girls from scoring.

Chinese Taipei (5) won against the Philippines (15) 6-3.

Group Stages:

Day 1

The first match of the day features South Korea (23) and Hong Kong (43). South Korea came up clear winners after the completion of the match.

South Korea (23) defeated Hong Kong (43) 5-1.

China (12) crush the hosts Indonesia (63) 12-0.

In what proved to be a decisive match on day 1, South Korea ran the favorites, Taipei close before losing in a close encounter.

Chinese Taipei (5) defeated South Korea (23) 3-2.

Top seeds Japan (2) defeat hosts Indonesia (63) 7-0.

Philippines (15) won against Hong Kong (43) 8-0.

Day 2

In a prelude to an expected final, Japan won against Taipei in a not so convincing way. Will Japan be challenged in the finals would be a question on everyone's mind after seeing the manner in which the group match between the two sides concluded.

Japan (2) defeat Chinese Taipei (5) 3-1.

China (12) crush Hong Kong (43) 10-0.

Philippines (15) won against South Korea (23) 5-3.

Chinese Taipei (5) defeat hosts Indonesia (63) 14-0.

In what was the first upset of the tournament, China was defeated by a jubilant Philippines team and has thrown open the race for the Silver and Bronze medals.

Philippines (15) won against China (12) 1-0.

Day 3

China was yet to get over from their defeat to the Philippines and had another close match against the Koreans before scraping through to victory.

China (12) defeat South Korea (23) 2-1.

Japan (2) defeat Hong Kong (43) 15-0.

South Korea (23) defeat hosts Indonesia (63) 4-2.

Japan (2) crush Philippines (15) 11-1.

WBSC Women's Softball World Championship - Day 3 — Wang Lan (CHN)

China inflicted the second upset of the tournament when they defeated the much fancied Taipei team by a comfortable margin.

China (12) defeat Chinese Taipei (5) 5-0.

Day 4

Japan (2) crush South Korea (23) 10-0.

Philippines (15) defeat hosts Indonesia (63) 4-0.

Chinese Taipei (5) defeat Hong Kong (43) 6-1.

Japan dealt China a heavy blow to their medal chances when they blazed past them by a scoreline of 14-1.

Japan (2) crush China (12) 14-1.

Taipei scraped through the Philippines teams in a close match.

Chinese Taipei (5) won against the Philippines (15) 3-2.

Day 5

The Indonesian team rallied by a vociferous home crowd crushed Hong Kong to get their first victory of the tournament.

Indonesia (63) defeat Hong Kong (43) 13-0.

Group Standings

Japan - 14 points, China - 8 points, Philippines - 8 points, Chinese Taipei - 8 points, South Korea - 4 points, Indonesia - 2 points, Hong Kong - 0 points.