Japan Defeat Hong Kong to Win Sano City Trophy!
- 2025-06-09
- Important news
- News & Articles
- National Team (Women)
The Women’s Japan National Team won their first trophy in 13 years after securing a first win over Hong Kong since 2019 to take home the Sano City International Trophy.
The win was largely thanks to some outstanding bowling from Erika Toguchi-Quinn, whose five for 14 are the best ever figures for the Japan Women’s Team.
Hong Kong started the day well, Natasha Miles winning the toss and opting to bowl. The Japanese openers of Ayaka Kato-Stafford (27) and Kurumi Ota (17) took Japan to the ten over mark without losing a wicket, and while Haruna Iwasaki injected a bit of momentum, the Hong Kong team would have been happy enough when Japan ended 99 for seven from their 20 overs.
Memories were fresh from last October, when Japan posted a similar total and Hong chased it down with ease to win the 2024 East Asia Cup, but even as Hong Kong accelerated to 43 for no loss inside eight overs, Japan remained calm and steadfast in their believe that breaking the opening partnership could bring further success.
So it proved. Ayumi Fujikawa made the initial breakthrough, dismissing captain Miles for 17 and suddenly the floodgates opened.
Hong Kong, ranked 22 places higher than Japan, were unable to handle the Japanese spinners, and it was redemption time for Toguchi-Quinn who had suffered at the hands of the same team in the first match of the tournament.
Showing incredible control and determination, the leg-spinner lured the Hong Kong batters into constant errors and the fielders remained calm to take their catches as wickets tumbled.
Japan were suddenly well on top and would go on to take all ten Hong Kong wickets for just 34 runs as they capitulated from 43 for no loss to 77 all out in 18 overs, former captain Kary Chan top scoring with 36 but unable to hold things together once wickets began to fall.
The win will be a huge confidence boost given key player Erika Oda was ruled out of the tournament in the first match, while Akari Nishimura was unable to play a role with the bat due to an injury sustained on the eve of the tournament.
Remarkably, two players from that last win in 2013, captain Mai Yanagida and all rounder Kurumi Ota, still remain in the team and have now added a new generation of winners as the team looks to move forward under new coach Vinay Iyer.
Tournament Awards:
- Best Bowler: Liu Mengting (China)
- Best Batter: Kary Chan (Hong Kong)
- Most Valuable Player: Ayaka Kato-Stafford (Japan)
HIGHLIGHTS
The full match schedule is as follows:
- 3rd June (Tuesday) 09:30 – Japan vs Mongolia (Match Abandoned)
- 3rd June (Tuesday) 14:30 – China vs Hong Kong (Match Abandoned)
- 4th June (Wednesday) 09:30 – Japan vs Hong Kong (Hong Kong won by 19 runs)
- 4th June (Wednesday) 14:30 – Philippines vs China (China won by 5 wickets)
- 5th June (Thursday) 09:30 – Philippines vs Hong Kong (Match Abandoned)
- 5th June (Thursday 14:30 – China vs Mongolia (China won by 7 wickets)
- 6th June (Friday) 09:30 – Japan vs China (Japan won by 24 runs)
- 6th June (Friday) 14:30 – Mongolia vs Philippines (Philippines won by 118 runs)
- 7th June (Saturday) 09:30 – Japan vs Philippines (Japan won by 59 runs)
- 7th June (Saturday) 14:30 – Hong Kong vs Mongolia (Hong Kong won by 7 wickets)
- 8th June (Sunday) 09:30 – 3rd Place Playoff (China won by 7 wickets)
- 8th June (Sunday) 14:30 – 4th Place Playoff (Philippines won by 9 wickets)
- 8th June (Sunday) 14:30 – Final (Japan won by 22 runs)
Venue: Sano International Cricket Ground
Address: 300-1 Tochimoto-cho, Sano City, Tochigi 327-0312, Japan
Admission: Free for all matches
All matches will be live streamed on the JCA YouTube Channel
National Team Partner
- Mitsui Knowledge Industry Co., Ltd.
Mitsui Knowledge Industry Co., Ltd. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsui & Co., Ltd. (MKI) specialized in providing services and products related to ICT (information and communication technology). Partnering with various global ICT vendors and supporting more than 2,500 companies, MKI offers best-in-class solutions to customers.
Website: https://www.mki.co.jp/english/