PH Blu Girls advance after close win over New Zealand in Olympic qualifying

Philippine Blu Girls pull off dramatic win. WBSC PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines advanced to the Super Round after taking a 1-0 victory over New Zealand in the WBSC Softball Asia/Oceania Qualifier for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics Thursday at Shanghai Chongming Sports Training Center.

The Blu Girls, who are ranked no.13 in the world, finished the group stage with a 2-1 record while no.11 New Zealand finished third at 1-2.

Chelsea Suitos singled a ground ball to right field allowing Siera Lange to run for home from third base in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Philippines takes the lead in the 8th!!!!! 😬 😬

📺 https://t.co/VZ9YhqsHyb pic.twitter.com/W2owvat2kU

— WBSC Softball #RoadToTokyo (@WBSCsoftball) September 26, 2019

“Yes we are lucky but we worked hard to earn this victory and we showed character to beat a higher ranked team,” said Blu Girls coach Venerando Dizer, who was in tears after the victory.

The Philippines nearly lost the game in the top of the sixth inning when Arianne Vallestero fumbled on a left field hit from the Sox’ Makea Merean that saw her reach second base.

“We recovered each time when we made an error, we proved to people back home that we are a team to be reckoned with,” said Dizer. “We came here to make the Super Round and now that we made it, we are going for broke. We have nothing to lose.”