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Michael Bastian - Head Coach (CHN)
(On today's game)
I'm extremely disappointed that we lost.
(Was it a little conservative to stop Xin Minhong from running back home in the bottom of the sixth?)
Today¡¯s game was very excited. It was excited to find manager¡¯s a lot of strategies there. Before the pitch, I put Jiang Xin in the pinch hit, I was thinking to score the game and how many was out and the whole situation. I am going to be able to sleep tonight because one of the first thing I learned to as a softball or baseball coach is that you never want to make the first out of an inning at home plate on a tag play.
The shortstop of Japan maybe the best in the world and she has great power. When she got the ball and Xin was a slow runner, I was afraid that Xin would be cut out.
If you had players on second and third bases and no out, you should have the chance to score. That was one of the situation we didn¡¯t execute. If we know we could score her from third or second, you might have done something different. The ball fell on the central field and the Japan defense were really well on that place, so it was the best choice to stop the runner.
(Why lost the game?)
We didn't execute. We made a couple of minor mistakes. And in the run-down play, we missed the ball so many times and we didn't execute. And Japan executed better.
(Did we have chance to win?)
The greatest feeling I have inside me now, is that the Chinese national softball team could play softball with everybody and anybody in the world now. It could be the USA or Japan. Today in the sixth inning, we had runners on second and third bases, I think it was a good chance to win this game. I am proud to tell you that the Chinese team can win games and I am very confident of that.
Hidetomi Ikama (JPN) - Head Coach
(On today's game)
We feel much more relaxed than the day before yesterday. Because of the good performance by (Yukiko) Ueno, we won this game and we are qualified for the Olympic Games.
(On Michael Bastian's strategy on the bottom of the 6th inning)
If I were the Chinese coach today, I would choose the strategy either. Just due to the good performance by Ueno, we made it.
Yukiko Ueno (JPN) - Pitcher
(On your team's batting today)
Our fielders helped me a lot in this game. Once I did not allow any score to the Chinese, we would win. I will try my best tomorrow. And I want to thank the audience today.
Hidetomi Ikama (JPN) ¨C Head Coach
(On the preparation for the next game against the United States)
We will later on have a meeting with our five pitchers and catchers. We will make a summary about the games we have played so far as part of our preparations for that game.
Yukiko Ueno (JPN)- Pitcher
(What did you think in the bottom of the 6th inning)
The Chinese batters were very active today. They tried to hit every ball I pitched. So I wanted to pitch well to strike out the Chinese. On the bottom of the sixth inning, I felt very confident of our fielders.
Hidetomi Ikama (JPN) - Head Coach
(On the performance of Chinese team today. Do you think China will be a trouble for Japan in the Olympic Game?)
I think that Chinese played host in this tournament. We had played China in this year's World Cup in the United States. Just in months, the Chinese team has made great progress. I think China will be the biggest rival to Japan (at the Olympic Games).
Issued by: News Service, Organizing Committee
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