By Yu Yilei (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-10-15 10:03

Host China defeated Canada 5-0 to win the "Bank of China" China Cup International Softball Tournament yesterday at Beijing's Fengtai Softball Field.

Zhang Lifang (L) of China slides to score one of China's five runs in the championship game of the China Cup International softball Tournament at Beijing's Fengtai Softball Field October 14, 2007. [China Daily]

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A four-run flurry in the bottom of the fourth inning set the pace for China, who displayed top-class defense and showed supreme hitting power, resulting in a total of eight hits, five more than the Canadians mustered.

"The players gained a lot of confidence from the victory over Australia on Saturday," said a delighted Chinese head coach Wang Lihong, who replaced American Michael Bastian as head coach in March.

Despite losing to the tournament-favorite Aussies twice during the preliminaries, including a 16-1 thrashing, the Chinese recovered in time to beat Australia in the semis and clinch a spot in the final.

"Today we just played an excellent game," Wang said. "The mental power works."

The morale-boosting victory over Australia, ranked No 3 in the world, proved to be truly memorable for China, who has rarely beaten the Aussies in international competition. Last year, for example, China endured a painful 1-0 loss to the Aussies in the bronze-medal playoff at the World Championships, which was held in the same venue as yesterday's game.

"This is a good start," Wang said. "We do not have much time before the Beijing Olympic Games next year and we need to work harder."

The Canadians, who defeated China 5-2 in the opening preliminary game, simply did not display the kind of inspired play that led to their 5-0 upset of Australia earlier on Saturday, which gave them a spot in the final.

"China is a better team today," Canadian head coach Lori Sippel said.

Australia placed third followed by Chinese Taipei who did not take a single win from the 16-game six-day tournament.