The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) today announced that Pingtan, China has been awarded the hosting rights of the WBSC U-18 Women's Softball World Cup Group B. The tournament will be played from 14 to 18 August at the Pingtan Softball Stadium.
With Group B being hosted in China, the WBSC U-18 Women's Softball World Cup Group Stage is complete, with Group A to be staged in Sao Paulo, Brazil, from 23 to 27 July; and Group C in Dallas, USA, from 28 August to 2 September.
Pingtan Island is the largest island in Fujian Province, and the fifth-largest administered by China. The Pingtan Softball Stadium, with a total construction area of 8,957m2 and a total seating capacity of 5,030, hosted the Asia Qualifier for the World Cup in 2023.
The WBSC U-18 Women's Softball World Cup, which was first held in 1981 as a Junior Women's Softball World Cup, will return to China after 21 years. Nanjing, the capital city of Jiangsu province, hosted the event in 2003. At the same time, this will be the third Softball World Cup on China soil having also staged the Women's Softball World Cup 2006 in Beijing - a qualifier for the Beijing 2008 Olympics.
World No. 15 China has won three medals in the history of the event, all of them in the first three editions. They won the World Championship in Fargo, USA, in 1985; a silver medal two years later in Oklahoma City, USA; and a bronze in the inaugural junior World Cup in Edmonton, Canada, in 1981.
China has already qualified for the event after a third-place finish at the Asia Cup. With one continental qualifier still to be played, the qualified teams for the WBSC U-18 Women’s Softball World Cup are:
Americas (5): TBD
Asia (3): No. 2 Japan, No. 4 Chinese Taipei and No. 15 China
Europe (3): World No. 6 Italy, No. 9 Czechia and No. 21 Ireland
Oceania (2): No. 32 New Zealand and No. 10 Australia
Wild Card/Host (5): No. 1 USA, No. 23 Brazil, TBD
