The Women's Baseball World Cup is an international tournament in which national women's baseball teams from around the world compete. Through its 2012 edition, it was sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation; following the 2013 merger of the IBAF with the International Softball Federation, subsequent tournaments are sanctioned by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC). In the nine times it has been held, the tournament has been won twice by the United States and seven consecutive times by Japan in 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2024.
Current season, competition or edition: 2024 Women's Baseball World Cup | |
| Sport | Baseball |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2004 |
| No. of teams | 12 (finals) |
| Continent | International |
| Most recent champion(s) |  Japan (2024) |
| Most titles | Japan (7 titles) |
History
editThe inaugural Women's Baseball World Cup was held in Edmonton, Canada from July 30 to August 8, 2004 after having been chartered by the International Baseball Federation in 2002. Before this tournament the only other international women's baseball tournament was the Women's Baseball World Series, which usually involved only three or four nations, usually Australia, Canada, Japan and occasionally the USA.
Competition format
editAll competing nations played one game versus each opponent. The top four teams advanced to the semifinals. Ties in standings were broken by head-to-head record. The first place team played versus the fourth place team and the second place team played the third place team. The semifinal losers then played the bronze medal game, with the winner earning third place and the loser receiving fourth place. The semifinal winners played in the finals, with the winner earning first place and the loser receiving second place. All regulation games are seven innings in length with the exception of the mercy rule, which applied to a ten run lead after 5 innings or a twelve run lead after 4 innings.
Results
edit| Years | Final hosts | Finalists | Semi-finalists | Teams | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Champions | Score | Runners-up | 3rd place | Score | 4th place | ||||||
| 2004 Details |
 Edmonton |
 United States |
2 – 0 |  Japan |
 Canada |
8 – 3 |  Australia |
5 | |||
| 2006 Details |
 Taipei |
United States |
round-robin | Japan |
Canada |
round-robin | Australia |
7 | |||
| 2008 Details |
Matsuyama |
Japan |
11 – 3 | Canada |
United States |
2 – 1 | Australia |
8 | |||
| 2010 Details |
 Maracay [note 1] |
Japan |
13 – 3 (F/5) |
Australia |
United States |
15 – 5 (F/6) |
 Venezuela |
11 | |||
| 2012 Details |
Edmonton |
Japan |
3 – 0 | United States |
Canada |
17 – 13 | Australia |
8 | |||
| 2014 Details |
Miyazaki |
Japan |
3 – 0 | United States |
Australia |
3 – 2 | Canada |
8 | |||
| 2016 Details |
 Busan |
Japan |
10 – 0 | Canada |
Venezuela |
4 – 3 |  Chinese Taipei [note 2] |
12 | |||
| 2018 Details |
 Viera, Florida |
Japan |
6 – 0 | Chinese Taipei [note 2] |
Canada |
8 – 5 | United States |
12 | |||
| 2021 Details |
 Tijuana |
Originally scheduled to be held in 2020, but cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[1] | 12 | ||||||||
| 2024 Details |
Thunder Bay |
Japan |
11 – 6 | United States |
Canada |
4 – 2 |  Mexico |
12 | |||
Medal table
edit| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Japan | 7 | 2 | 0 | 9 |
| 2 |  United States | 2 | 3 | 2 | 7 |
| 3 | Canada | 0 | 2 | 5 | 7 |
| 4 |  Australia | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 5 |  Chinese Taipei | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | Venezuela | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (6 entries) | 9 | 9 | 9 | 27 | |
Participating nations
edit| Nation | 2004 | 2006 | 2008 | 2010 | 2012 | 2014 | 2016 | 2018 | 2024 | Years | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia |
4 | 4 | 4 |  |
4 |  |
5 | 7 | Q | 8 | 9 |
| Canada |
|
|
|
5 | |
4 | |
|
Q | |
9 |
 China |
Q | 0 | |||||||||
| Chinese Taipei[note 2] |
5 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 |
|
Q | 6 | 9 |
 Cuba |
6 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 | Q | 9 | 6 | |||
 Dominican Republic |
6 | 1 | |||||||||
 France |
Q | 12 | 1 | ||||||||
 Hong Kong |
6 | 8 | 11 | 7 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 7 | |||
 India |
7 | 11 | 2 | ||||||||
| Japan |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
Q | |
9 |
| Mexico |
Q | 4 | 1 | ||||||||
 Netherlands |
10 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 12 | Q | 5 | ||||
 Pakistan |
12 | 1 | |||||||||
 Philippines |
Q | 0 | |||||||||
 Puerto Rico |
8 | 9 | 7 | 3 | |||||||
| South Korea |
6 | 9 | 6 | 10 | 11 | 5 | |||||
| United States |
|
|
|
|
|
|
7 | 4 | Q | |
9 |
| Venezuela |
4 | 5 | 6 | |
5 | Q | 5 | 6 | |||
| Nations | 5 | 7 | 8 | 11 | 8 | 8 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Originally, the final round was supposed to be held at José Antonio Casanova Stadium in Caracas, but due to the 2010 Women's Baseball World Cup shooting incident, the International Baseball Federation and the organizers of the tournament decided to reschedule the games at Estadio José Perez Colmenares in Maracay.
- ^ a b c The
Republic of China (Taiwan) is recognised as Chinese Taipei by WBSC and the majority of international organisations it participates in due to political considerations and Cross-Strait relations with the People's Republic of China.
- ^ "2021 WBSC Women's, U-15 Baseball World Cups officially cancelled". V U-15 Baseball World Cup 2021. World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC). Retrieved 2 October 2021.