By Tom Choy

Vancouver, British Columbia

“Talent wins games, teamwork and intelligence win championships.”  Unknown

The RP BlU GIRLS, the Philippine national softball team, won silver in the recently concluded Asian Women’s World Softball Championships held in Taichung, Taiwan.

The Blu Girls beat two highly ranked world teams China Taipei(ranked 5th in the world) and China(ranked 6th) to advance to the Gold medal game against Japan(No 1 in the world). In the finals game, Japan shutdown RP (7-0) and the Philippines settled for the Silver Medal.

That win by the Blu Girls qualified them for the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia and the the 2018 World Championships in Japan. Japan, being the host and the Philippines, Chinese Taipei and China have also qualified in the World Championships. To advance to the Olympics, RP has to be in the final top 3.

“ My heart is so full to beat two top world-ranked teams and take home the silver medal,” declares Skyllene Ellazar, Fil-Am player for the Philippine team in her Facebook page. She continues, “A broken nose and 3 games in one day—we(the RP Blu Girls) made history by being the first Philippine national team to medal in an Asian Championships.” That was simply a milestone in Philippine national sports.

The Blu Girls are fundamentally prepared to compete. They participated in the summer games in the World women’s Softball Canada Cup Games held last summer. The Blu girls beat two high ranked world teams Canada(ranked 3rd in the world) and Australia(ranked 4th). “The fact the Blu Girls defeated high ranked teams in Taichung after all is that their summer victory against top teams was not a fluke,” beams Amateur Softball Association of the Philippines(ASAPHIL) President Jean Henry Lhuillier. Mr. Lhuillier’s support for the Blu Girls is unwavering and full circle.

“I’m so elated with RP Blu Girls’ performance in the Asian Women’s Softball Championships. Their wins against world number 6 China and World number 9 Chinese Taipei, in a span of a few hours, prove that their wins this summer against powerhouse teams such as world number 3 Canada, number 4 Australia were no flukes. I’m so excited about this team and I think they have a legitimate chance of being one of only six teams who’ll play in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics,” said Amateur Softball Association of the Philippines (ASAPHIL) President Jean Henri Lhuillier.

Mr. Lhuillier even visited the Blu Girls during their summer games in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada. He is such an inspiration to the Blu Girls. He personally makes sure the young players are well taken care of whatever it takes. ASAPHIL is there to care about the players. The coaching staff led by Randy Dizer(Softball Program Head of the Ateneo De Manila) is one of the big reasons the Blu Girls have been playing strong softball. The conditioning and medical  staff ensures the young players are always ready to compete at optimal levels.

There is also the General Manager Ismael Jun Veloso who makes sure the logistics are in place to support our national softball athletes wherever they practice or compete.

At the rate the RP Blu Girls are playing and creating havoc against top-ranked teams, the Philippines softball team is a few wins away from being in the 2020 Olympic competitions. Taipei now, Tokyo here we come.