With Olympic hopes quashed, Blu Girls set sights on SEAG

PH Blu Girls end tournament with a 0-5 drubbing. WBSC PHOTO

Denied of a berth in the Olympics, the Philippines’ national women’s softball team will now look to dominate Southeast Asia.

The squad, known as the Blu Girls, ended its campaign in the WBSC Softball Asia/Oceania Qualifier with back-to-back losses at Shanghai Chongming Sports Training Center in China, quashing the country’s hopes of a berth in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

But, Amateur Softball Association of the Philippines president Jean Henri Lhuillier doesn’t want the team to sulk. Instead, he is eyeing a strong bounceback by the Blu Girls in the Southeast Asian Games that the country will host from Nov. 30 to Dec. 11.

“This setback will allow us to pinpoint our weaknesses, which we will address. Definitely you’ll see a much stronger Blu Girls in the SEA Games,” Lhuillier said.

The Blu Girls, ranked 13th in the world, bowed to No. 7 Australia, on Friday and to No. 6 Chinese Taipei on Saturday to close out their schedule in the Olympic qualifier.

The Cebuana Lhuillier-backed squad copped fourth place in the tournament but missed the Olympic ticket.

“The team worked very hard to get to this qualifying tournament and a top four finish is still an impressive feat,” Lhuillier said.