Pools, Schedule announced for 11th WBSC U-19 Junior Women’s Softball World Championship

13/04/2015

Oklahoma City, OK (USA) – The world governing body of baseball and softball, WBSC, today announced the pools and the official competition schedule of the XI Junior Women’s Softball World Championship that will be staged from 9-15 August at the newly renovated ASA Hall of Fame Complex in Oklahoma City, USA.

Oklahoma City, OK (USA) – The world governing body of baseball and softball, WBSC, today announced the pools and the official competition schedule of the XI Junior Women’s Softball World Championship that will be staged from 9-15 August at the newly renovated ASA Hall of Fame Complex in Oklahoma City, USA.

The 18 nations of the 2015 WBSC Junior Women’s Softball World Championship have been delegated to their respective pools and will open the event with a group round robin:

Pool A: China, Ecuador, Great Britain, Japan, Nigeria
Pool B: Brazil, Colombia, Italy, Mexico, USA
Pool C: Argentina, Australia, Czech Republic, Puerto Rico
Pool D: Canada, Chinese Taipei, New Zealand, Venezuela

The official tournament schedule features an exciting 85 world championship contests that will be concentrated into seven days of action. (See Official Schedule)

Day 1 and 2 will feature round robin action of each pool. Nations will be battling to finish among the top two in their respective groups to advance into the championship round robin (2 pools) with the remaining teams advancing to the placement robin round (2 pools).

Day 3 and 4 will see a round robin of both the championship pools and the placement pools.

Day 5 and 6 will see the championship section continue through the double page playoff with the placement section continuing through a single elimination format.

Day 7 will showcase the bronze and gold medal games.

All 18 participating National Teams will be competing on Opening Day, with action opening on Saturday, 9 August at 09:00 local time.

Opening ceremonies will begin at 18:00 at the main competition field, which will be followed by Brazil taking on hosts USA.

The gold medal game will take centre stage on Saturday, 15 August at 19:30, and will be preceded by the bronze medal match at 17:00.

“The WBSC Junior Women’s Softball World Championship in Oklahoma City will be the centre of the softball universe, providing an important global platform for the top young women’s softball players from all corners of the world,” said WBSC Softball Division President Dale McMann. “Softball continues to be a sport that connects with women and young people, as highlighted by the one of the most diverse groups of nations that will be uniting this summer at the Junior Women’s World Championship.”

Universality

The 18 nations uniting at the 11th edition of the WBSC Junior Women’s Softball World Championship represent a global footprint that spans across the globe, including North-, South- and Central America and the Caribbean, as well as Africa, Asia, Europe and Oceania.

Softball’s expanding global reach will be highlighted in Oklahoma City by Ecuador and Nigeria, both of whom will be making their historic softball world championship debuts, while the Colombian National Team will be competing in the junior softball world championship for the first time ever.

WBSC Secretary General Ms. Beng Choo Low said:

“The U19 Jr Women’s Softball World Championship will be a great platform to showcase our sport’s universality, youth appeal and commitment to gender equality, particularly during this time when a potential return of baseball/softball to the Olympics in Tokyo in 2020 is under review.”

The Japanese Junior Women’s National Softball Team is the current two-time defending U19 World Champion, following Japan’s gold medal performance in Brampton, Canada in 2013, where the world No. 1 defeated USA, 4-0. Oceania’s Australia earned the bronze medal in 2013.

Live-Streaming

The world championship will also have web-streaming and play-by-play available, enhancing coverage of the youth softball showcase with real-time digital content to the ever expanding global audience.

All packages to watch the tournament – both in person and through web-streaming – are available through the tournament website: 2015jwwc.com.

The U19 world championship is being hosted by ASA/USA Softball, at their headquarters, marking the first time since 1995 the event will be played on U.S. soil.

The WBSC has a full list of official events on the calendar that span from June to November which include the Men’s Softball World Championship and Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada, the U12 Baseball World Cup in Tainan, Chinese Taipei, the U18 Men’s Baseball World Cup at Koshien Stadium in Japan, and the inaugural Premier 12 co-hosted by Japan and Chinese Taipei.