China stay in the competition despite the defeat and now face Chinese Taipei for the chance to get another crack at Japan on 14 December in the gold medal game.
Japan's victory in this first playoff match was routine and comprehensive. Megu Hirose singled to centre field en route to scoring the first run of the game in second innings.
Mariko Masubuchi's varied pitching kept China's batters in check and Japan extended their lead when Hirose scored again off a hit by Yuka Suzuki in the fourth innings.
Japan wrapped up the match in the seventh innings when Ayumi Karino doubled a hit to centre field and ran around the bases to score her team's third run.
Japan's Emi Naito expects to play China again in the grand final. "I think we will play against China three times in this competition, so we just need to win each game."Â
China left fielder Wu Di said: "After Japan scored their first run we didn't adjust. That's why we didn't win. The two losses to Japan [one earlier in the group stage] will stimulate our team to pay more attention to every detail. We are now more familiar with their pitching which will make us more confident in the final."Â
Chinese Taipei defeated DPR Korea 2-1 in a tense playoff match to stay in the competition. Chinese Taipei pitcher Wu Chia Yen held her nerve at the top of the seventh, restricting DPR Korea to just one run when they had two players on base and were threatening a comeback.
Earlier in the day DPR Korea had beaten Korea 4-1 to enter the playoffs. The key moment came in the bottom of the third when Korea errored twice and Pak Hyon Ok, Kim Un Ju and Kim Jin Ok scored.
15th Asian Games, Doha 2006
Posted December 14th, 2006 by COBA
