Three Asian nations qualify for 2015 Men’s Softball World Championship

Japan defeats Philippines to claim gold at 14th Asian Men’s Championship

After not hosting a Men’s Asian Championship in 15 years, softball returned to Singapore for the 14th Asian Men’s Softball Championship. Six national teams – Brunei, Indonesia, Japan, Pakistan, Philippines, and Singapore – took the field in hopes of being one of three teams to qualify for the 14th Men’s Softball World Championship later this year.

Japan defeated the Philippines, 5-0, in the Grand Final to claim gold. Indonesia secured bronze and the final qualifying spot.

Japan dominated the tournament finishing undefeated. They also swept all the individual awards of Tournament MVP (Yuhei Fukatsu), Best Batter (Hikaru Matsuda), and Best Fielder (Marateru Matsuoka). Philippines and Indonesia kept pace only losing to Japan and each other.

The Asian region has seen much success on the field. Japan is the current World Champions in the women’s and junior women’s (19-and-under) divisions and would like to improve on their 6th place finish at the previous Men’s World Championship in 2013. Philippines saw their highest finish at a world championship in 1968 (4th place) and Indonesia in 1992 (11th place).

The 2015 Men’s Softball World Championship, being hosted in Saskatoon, SK, Canada, will feature sixteen national teams from all five regions. Eleven of the 16 nations have already qualified, including host Canada, Argentina, Dominican Republic, Mexico, USA and Venezuela for the Americas, Czech Republic, Denmark, and Netherlands for Europe, and Australia and New Zealand for Oceania.

View photo summary of tournament here.

* Gold: Japan
* Silver: Philippines
* Bronze: Indonesia
4th: Singapore
5th: Brunei
6th: Pakistan

* Qualified for 14th Men’s Softball World Championship