The first event in the stadium being built for the 2008 Olympic Softball competition will be the ISF XI Women's World Championship.

16 COUNTRIES KNOWN FOR WWC
2005-12-22

The 16 teams – the maximum allowed under the International Softball Federation (ISF) Code – are all now set for the XI Women’s World Championship. Set to take place August 27-September 5 in Beijing, China, the event is also a qualifier for the 2008 Olympic Softball competition. Fittingly, the tournament will be played in the new softball stadium being built for the 2008 Summer Games.

The two Oceania representatives, Australia and New Zealand, are the final two to join those that had already qualified for next year’s marquee event. Previously, the following 14 teams gained berths in the Women’s World Championship:

AFRICA: Botswana and South Africa
AMERICAS: Canada, Colombia, Cuba, USA, and Venezuela
ASIA: China, Chinese Taipei, DPR Korea, and Japan
EUROPE: Greece, Italy, and the Netherlands

“We have been seeing a significant improvement on the competitive side of our sport of late, and this should be reflected in the games at the Women’s World Championship,” said ISF President Don Porter. “The fans at the games in Beijing next year – and that country is a very strong softball nation, so I know there will be tremendous support from spectators – are sure to see exciting play on the field over the ten days of our event.”

USA comes in as the defending women’s world champion, having defeated Japan, 1-0, in the gold medal game at the 2002 event in Canada, where Chinese Taipei won the bronze medal and China finished fourth.