An exemplary display of power-pitching from Marty Grant of New Zealand led the defending world champions to a hard-earned 2-1 victory over Japan in the final of the 10th World Men’s Softball championship at the Phillip Kahts Stadium, East London, South Africa. The final day of the championship began with a playoff between New Zealand and the United States to earn the right to face Japan in the final. In the group stages earlier in the week, New Zealand had inflicted a 10-0 defeat on the USA, so the Kiwis were quietly confident of making it through to the final. In the final, New Zealand pitcher Marty Grant was the hero, striking out 17 of 25 batters, and achieving complete shutouts in three frames. Despite this control, Japan battled bravely and was still in with a chance with the score locked at 1-1 at the end of the fourth inning. Both sides had chances in the fifth and sixth innings to wrest some control of the game, but neither was able to capitalize on promising situations.
Japan, New Zealand, and USA Set for Finals
The penultimate day of the X Men’s softball world championships was packed with drama and tension as the eight teams that had qualified from the group stages battled each other to make it through to the final day. A complicated knockout system gave everyone the chance to be one of three teams to progress through to the Finals on July 15. The day got off to a flying start with an eagerly awaited clash between defending champion New Zealand, and the Japanese, who had been in tremendous form in finishing second in Group B. Japan upset the form book and sneaked a tight 1-0 win over the reigning world champions, to inflict on them their first defeat of the championships so far. The United States and Venezuela were next up, with the Americans coming out on top, 6-2. The Czech Republic also had a good start to the day with a close 4-3 triumph over the Dominican Republic in the third match of the day. South Africa took to the field in front of a packed crowd to play Canada. The match finished with Canada the victors by 7-0. The afternoon session began with New Zealand returning to its winning ways, and ending the Czech Republic’s presence in the championships, with a close 1-0 win. Venezuela was next to bow out, suffering a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Canada. Japan secured their place in the final day’s action with a 2-0 win over the USA. New Zealand scraped into the final day with a narrow 3-2 win over the Canadians.
– In Other Action –
South Africa advanced to the playoff stages of the Men’s World Championship following a thrilling one-run win over Mexico in an incident-packed match. Canada and Japan opened proceedings on day seven of the East London tournament. The Japanese sneaked home a 1-0 win in a tight encounter, and were left to await the outcome of the highly anticipated New Zealand/USA clash later in the day to confirm their playoff opponents. In Group A the Philippines overcame Lesotho 5-0, while in Group B Australia’s stark decline continued as they suffered a 10-1 thrashing at the hands of Venezuela. The Dominican Republic finished the group stages on a high, beating Chinese Taipei 4-2, and moving into the playoffs courtesy of fourth place, also in Group B. The Czech Republic and Denmark opened the afternoon session, and the Czechs booked their place in the knockout rounds with a 3-0 win to take third place in Group B. The Netherlands saw off the challenge of Chinese Taipei 6-5 to record their first win of the week, though the result only affected minor placings in Group B.
