Sun Li and Li Qi both threw a pair of shutouts to trounce Britain 10-0 as China took the advantage of three fielding errors to score four runs in the first and five in the third in the Beijing Women's World Softball Championship on Sunday.

Chinese ace pitcher Sun Li put out the six batters she faced on strikes in the first three innings, two out in each of the innings before she was substituted as the starting pitcher by Li Qi. And she   threw as well as Sun to retire two in fourth and three in China's last-gasp defense efforts to wrap up the match with 4 1/2 innings.

China succeeded in not allowing their opponents to make a strike throughout the entire match   which can be attributed to Sun and Li's incredible pitching. Britain simply failed to break through the no-score barrier. 

Wu Di and Xin Minhong each had two-run doubles to score 4 in the first innings but they were helped by fielding lapses. This lifted China's spirits to seize the match among loud applause from the spectators. 

Lu Yi's double gave China another point in the second before the win was secured in the third with Wu Di hitting another two-run double and Li Chunxia battering a three-run triple.

China had ten hits to display its power on batting and a step towards becoming one of the strongest teams worldwide which is a real target for China's coach Misheel Bastiana.

Bastiana, from the United States, praised his players after seeing off Britain with their power play. "It's an exciting day to see my team win a perfect match after a long period of preparation. The match was well organized and the pitchers were outstanding," he said. "We had a very good start and hopefully the players can extend their skills in the next match."

"We play at home with a lot of emotional support from our fans," commented Bastiana. "My great expectation for China is to establish the team in the ranks of the world's strongest. We'll take a step at a time to progress and we've done a lot of work on hitting."

The scoreless, no-hit performance by Britain didn't impress their coach Craig Montvidas. "We're very disappointed with the result. It's a young squad without much experience compared with an Olympic team. China has a good team and a good coach," he said. 

"The difference between the two teams is we made a few errors and China is very strong and took advantage of our mistakes to score. I'd hoped we would be stronger but perhaps we'll get better results in the following matches," added Montvidas.

Montvidas said he didn't think the hot weather had affected the teams. "I don't think the weather is a problem for us. China is very powerful in softball but perhaps my players did get a little bit nervous on the field," he observed.  

The 11th Women's World Softball Championship is the first Olympic test event in Beijing with 16 teams competing in two pools. The event will give four spots (excluding hosts China) to compete in the Beijing 2008 Olympics.

(Xinhua News Agency August 28, 2006)