This past weekend, Softball India organised a trial at the Divisional Sports Complex in Mankapur to start the selection process of their Men’s National Softball Teams (senior and U-23) to participate in this year’s Asia Cups, qualifiers for their respective WBSC Softball World Cups. A total of 110 players from across India were in Mankapur to participate in the trials.
Both the senior and U-23 Asia Cups are scheduled to take place this year. The winners and runner ups of these events will earn spots into the respective WBSC Softball World Cups. Exact locations and dates will be announced by Softball Asia in the coming weeks.
The WBSC Men’s Softball World Cup 2022 will be held in Auckland, New Zealand, from 24 November to 4 December. India’s only participation in the flagship men’s softball event was in 2017 (in Whitehorse, Canada), when they finished 15th.
The inaugural WBSC U-23 Men’s Softball World Cup will be held in Parana, Argentina, from 22-30 October 2022.
India’s last appearance in a Men’s Softball World Cup was in the Junior Men’s Softball World Championship 2018, where they finished ninth (5-4 record), led by right-handed pitcher Gaurav Chaudari.
India is currently No. 16 nation in the WBSC Men’s Softball World Rankings, with 404 points, and is the third-ranked Asian nation, only behind No. 1 Japan and No. 15 Singapore.
