Hong Kong Allies take silver, while the International Earth Stars walked away wearing the bronze

Japan's Far East Bloomers moved through its tournament competitors with ease, winning all six of its games -- including the championship game -- scoring 78 runs while only allowing three. In the final at 1 p.m. Hong Kong time Monday, the Japanese women defeated the Hong Kong Allies, 12-1, scoring five runs in the first inning. The Allies scored the lone run in the bottom of the fourth, but could not muster two more to keep the game from being called under the "mercy" rule.

The Japanese women won their third Phoenix Cup gold medal in four years. In 2010, they settled for a silver when the Aussie Hearts (who did not send a team this year) grabbed the gold. The HK Allies, with a record of 4-2, earned the silver.

Earlier that day, the International Earth Stars, with a 2-2 record, battled the Allies for a chance at competing in the final game against Japan, but fell, 12-4, in five innings. As a result, the International Earth Stars, which includes women from the United States, the Netherlands, and Canada, received the bronze.

In other action, the Taipei Vanguard of Taiwan won fourth place, defeating Korea's Nine Vics team, 8-4, and Korea's DDDBall team scored eight runs in the bottom of the third to drop Hong Kong's iTeam and grab sixth place in the tournament.

The tournament's Best Coach award went to Manabu Suzuki of the Far East Bloomers, while Bloomers' pitcher Kazuho Nimi received Best Pitcher honors. Bloomers Team MVP went to infielder Namie Nakagome. Yea Lim of Korea's Nine Vics team received an award for having the most hits.

Other team MVP awards went to Yik Shan Hung of the Hong Kong Allies, Tessa Heeres (Netherlands) of the International Earth Stars, Ling-Hui Kuan of the Taipei Vanguard, Yea Lim Son of Korea's Nine Vics, Boyoung Nam of Korea's DDDBall, and Reyzelyn Villanueva of the Hong Kong iTeam.

To view more about the teams:

http://phoenix2011.tripleplaycom.net/team/team/1