Softball Australia Pacific Cup cancelled; Summer Slam rescheduled for April
04/02/2021 2 Minute Read

Softball Australia Pacific Cup cancelled; Summer Slam rescheduled for April

The cup event was to be a tune-up for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics this summer, but ongoing travel restrictions forced hosts Softball Australia to shut down the event.

Softball Australia has announced the cancellation of the WBSC-sanctioned Australia Pacific Cup, originally scheduled for 8-11 March, due to national and international travelling restrictions. The national governing body also rescheduled the women’s and men’s Summer Slam – Fully Loaded Softball.

The three events were initially scheduled from 5-14 March at Blacktown International Sportspark, with seven days of competition to be broadcast live on FOX SPORTS Australia and Kayo.

The fourth edition of the Australia Pacific Cup was expected to be a test before the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Last year, four of six qualified teams for the Olympics played in the international tournament, including host Australia, Italy, Japan and Mexico. New Zealand and Chinese Taipei completed the field of teams. Japan went undefeated to win the event.

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“We’re obviously bitterly disappointed to be cancelling the Australia Pacific Cup, which is usually an important event for the Travelodge Aussie Spirit preparations, particularly in an Olympic year,” said David Pryles, Chief Executive Officer at Softball Australia. “A number of countries qualified for Tokyo had expressed an interest in competing at Blacktown again in 2021; however, the restrictions still in place made it incredibly difficult to secure the necessary accommodation and travel options for quarantine requirements.

“We’ll of course work towards resuming the Australia Pacific Cup in 2022.”

Summer Slam – Fully Loaded Softball

Softball Australia also announced the new dates for the Summer Slam – Fully Loaded Softball, a shortened and quicker version of softball, both for women and men.

The Women’s Summer Slam – Fully Loaded Softball will take place from 9-11 April, while the inaugural Men’s Summer Slam – Fully Loaded Softball will be played from 23-25 April.

Tokyo 2020 – Olympic Softball