China delighted home fans with a dramatic 3-1 victory over Italy at the ISF Women's Softball World Championships yesterday.

It was the second straight win for the hosts, who thrashed Great Britain 10-0 on Sunday. The result put China into second place in Pool A, behind the United States on runs scored. The US also earned a second consecutive win by easing past plucky newcomers Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) 7-0 in another five-inning shutout.

China put a new pitcher Yu Huili into the field instead of Lu Wei and Li Qi, a surprise after the pair didn't allow the Britons a single hit on Sunday.

A Chinese team defence error enabled the Italians to go ahead 1-0 in the first inning. China fought hard in the following game and their efforts paid off in the fourth when they scored three runs to seal the victory.

"Tonight has been a really good learning experience for our team because we had to deal with variation," said China's head coach Michael Bastian.

"We made some mistakes in our defence and allowed them to score a run early in the game.

'But I am proud of this team because we have been working very hard to deal with this situation. We had a very good response. We came back and scored the runs to win the game."

The mistake happened at the bottom of first when Sun Li failed to catch a hit to the centre field and allowed Veronica Fontana to go first base. Fontana then scored on Shanel Garofalo's single to give them a 1-0 lead.

"That affected the team. They were a little bit down because of that mistake," Bastian said. "I just told them to put it behind them."

It wasn't as simple as all that, as Italy's starting pitcher Leslie Malerich held the Chinese offence in the next two innings, striking out three batters and allowing just one hit.

But she started to lose her control at the top the fourth before Breana Desanta relieved her in the fifth. Malerich allowed Lu Yi to hit a centre field single and then walked Wu Di before Xin Minhong's left field single.

Sun Li hit a double to the right, driving Lu and Wu home to overcome the deficit. Zhou Yi's single brought on Shao Jing, who substituted Xin, home to put the hosts in a 3-1 lead.

Neither of the teams was able to score in the remainder of the game thanks to good pitching. Yu completed the game with five strikeouts, while allowing one run with one hit and one walk. Desanta finished with two strikeouts and two hits

"We did not give up even though we were behind early in the game," said Yu. "I firmly believed that we could win the game."

Bastian was full of praise for the young pitcher.

"I felt comfortable giving her the ball because I know she'll give me the performance I want. She is a warrior!"

Italy surprisingly defeated China 7-5 during the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, but this defeat was their second of the tournament following a 6-1 defeat by US on Sunday.

"They have been improving a lot in the past two years and there is no comparison with the team in 2004" said Italian head coach Marina Centrone.

Earlier, the US team dominated the game against DPRK, as star pitcher Jennie Finch played the complete game with seven strikeouts and two hits.

Although the Koreans notched a victory in their first ever championship game by defeating South Africa 3-0, the Americans, going for their sixth straight world title, proved too strong.

The pace was set early at the bottom of the first inning when Caitlin Lowe was walked off by DPRK's starting pitcher Kim Song-chun, and took on the second on Natasha Watley's single. After Kim gave up another walk to Jessica Mendoza with base loaded. US's star batter Crystl Bustos' three-run double put them 3-0 ahead and then 4-0 as she ran home at Jenny Topping's flying out.

US head coach Mike Candrea said he was impressed by DPRK's performance.

"I watched them warming up today and I was really impressed with their mechanics and their swing," Candrea said.

"I think overall they did a very good job and I was really impressed with their play."

Despite a gusty performance, DPRK's head coach Pak Yong-bok was unhappy, saying his players were too nervous against the US team.

"This was not our best performance," he said. "This is the first time we played against the US and I think we did not do as well as usual."

In other games, gold favourites Japan defeated Venezuela 7-1 to take their second straight win. Other medal hopefuls Chinese Taipei routed the Netherlands 7-0. Canada defeated Britain 5-1 while Australia were able to take a win without playing because pool rivals Colombia withdrew from the tournament at the last minute due to late visas.

China will take on the DPRK today while US face Canada. Japan will be looking to get past Greece as Australia fight Chinese Taipei.

(China Daily August 29, 2006)