SINGAPORE - Both the Republic's men and women softballers lost in their respective finals on Wednesday morning to settle for bronze medals.
The men's team conceded a home run in the first inning, and never recovered from that, eventually falling 0-4 to Indonesia. Ironically, the hosts had beaten the Indonesians 2-0 in an earlier match.
National men's coach John Tan, 53, said: "The first inning killed us, in the sense that the calls the umpires made turned it around."
The women put up a brave fight, but ultimately conceded a run to Thailand in the last inning to lose 1-2.
Women's team captain Magdelyn Chow, 26, said: "We managed to play well and hold them tight this time, compared to the first round-robin game. It's not very disappointing, because our goal going into the SEA Games was to get a medal."
Both Tan and Chow will be calling it a day after the competition.
Tan said: "The whole team have sacrificed much time to train for this competition, so it's quite a relief. I love the boys, I really do."
Chow added: "I feel happy we got a medal. As long as the team put in their best, we are all happy. It's a sense of relief for most of us (older players) also, because we can get rid of our packed schedules!"
Indonesia and Thailand will now progress to the Grand Final against both the men and women's teams from the Philippines held on Wednesday afternoon.
