China thrashes Britain, U.S. edges Italy at women softball worlds

- Excellent pitching from starter Lu Wei and closer Li Qi helped China trounce Britain 10-0, while U.S. defeated Italy 6-1 in Women's World Softball Championship here on Sunday.

The softball tournament as first Olympic test event was unveiled after Liu Peng, minister of State General Administration of Sport, threw the ceremonial first pitch and Don Porter, the International Softball Federation (ISF) president, poised to be the first batter to hit in the Fengtai Softball Center.

The opening match was dominated by China with a 10-0 victory over underdog Britain in five innings.

A game ends whenever a team trails by more than seven points after five innings, according to the ISF rules.

A large and enthusiastic crowd of nearly 10,000 packed into one of the two impressive stadiums in the southwest of Beijing to witness the opening ceremony and cheer the home side to triumph.

Lu Wei struck out six in the first three innings and Li Qi struck out five in the last one and half innings.

Britain got jammed right from the beginning in the four-run first inning. Zhou Yi and Yu Yanhong singled and scored on Heather Brown's wild pitch with Zhang Ai at bat. Yu Zhanghong got hurt after sliding home, but she still made nice play till the end.

Wu Di's double drove Zhang Ai home and scored on Xin Minhong's double.

Li Chuanxia's single drove Tan Ying home in the second, and China got another run burst in the third. Stacie Townsend relieved with the bases being loaded and one out. Jiang Xin and Yu Yanhong's single drove Wu Di and Sun Li home respectively. Tan Ying, Jiang Xin and Yu Yanhong scored on Li Chunxia's three-run triple.

Britain's starter Heather Brown gave up five runs and eight hits in two plus innings with no strikeout. Stacie Townsend relieved in the third and delivered three strikeouts, allowing five runs.

Britain coach Craig Montvidas said after the game: "Obviously myself and the team are disappointed with the result. We are a young team and we are still in the learning process, and we are playing against a very good team and a very good coach. China got some Olympic players with much more experience."

China's coach Michael Bastian expressed his thanks to the support from fans. "I know it is an exciting game for all those involved with national softball team. We have been preparing for the tournament for a long time. I think the tournament is well organized," said Bastian.

"We have worked very hard on our offence. In the years passed, China has been a very fast team, and bat well and play short game very well. I think ten hits for today are a proof that our hard work is paying off."

In other games, U.S. upset Italy 6-1; DPR Korea beat South Africa 3-0 with all three runs came in the top of the third inning; Japan downed Chinese Taipei with the same score through the first homer in the championship by Sachiko Ito; Canada outplayed New Zealand 9-0; Botswana awarded 7-0 victory for Colombia's abandonment for flight delay; Australia overtook Greece 5-1; Venezuela overwhelmed the Netherlands 10-6.

The World Softball Championship is the first Olympic test event in Beijing with 16 teams competing in two pools, which will produce four spots (excluding China, the host) for Beijing 2008 Olympics.

Softball first featured as a medal sport at the Atlanta Olympic Games in 1996, but it was removed from the Olympic events for 2012 London Olympics.

Source: Xinhua