China's softballers failed to pull themselves out of a three-game tailspin on Sunday when they were outscored 2-1 by Chinese Taipei at the Beijing Olympics.
The fourth straight loss of the tournament shattered the host's last straw of hope to win the elusive medal as the sport was voted out of the London Games in 2012.
"I was still proud of my girls. We really have good chances but lacked some fortunes. They did a good job. I felt sorry for the failure expecially for the older players who will retire after the Games," said China's head coach Wang Lihong.
China has left 32 runners on base through the first five games, more than any other team in the tournament, yet failing to stop the early exile from the page-system finals.
In the morning's opening game, Chinese Taipei took the early lead in the top of first inning when Chiang Hui-Chuan hit a single to drove Lo Hsiao-Ting home for the opening run.
China overcame the slump and made a quick comeback in the second inning when Sun Li's single put her teammate across the home plate for the tying run.
But the visitors overtook the lead in the fourth inning when Lu Hsueh-Mei's double sent the speedy Chiang Hui-Chuan home.
China replaced starter Yu Huili with reliefer Li Qi onto the circle in the fifth inning. The left-handed hurler tossed three perfect games, striking out six and allowing only one hit and no runs.
With a win-loss record of 2-4, China lost the final theoretical chance to the finals even though Venezuela upset fourth-placed Canada 2-0 on Saturday night.
"What else could I say? I really want to cry now but we have to move on and face new life," said China's first baseman Yu Yanhong. The 34-veteran competed in the Sydney Olympics and will retire after the Beijing Games.
Chinese softball players made the history by grabbing a silver medal at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, when the sport was first introduced to the Olympic agenda. In the following Sydney and Athens Games, they narrowly missed a podium finish.
On Monday, China will face the undefeated United States for their last game at softball's last Olympic arena. There might be their fifth defeat in a row but the strong-minded women will fight till the last inning.
"We will cherish every inning of each game. We will fight for the fame of Chinese team. Thanks for all these year's support to us," concluded Chinese coach Wang.
The eight teams now are competing in a round-robin format in the preliminaries and only the top four will contest for medals in the page system. The United States, Japan, Australia and Canada now lead the standings.
(Xinhua News Agency August 17,2008)