WBSC U-18 Women’s Softball World Cup: New schedule unveiled after South Africa withdraws due to COVID travel restrictions

Eight teams will now compete in a 28-game round robin, including world No. 30 Peru (host), along with No. 2 USA, No. 4 Mexico, No. 5 Puerto Rico, No. 6 Chinese Taipei, No. 10 Netherlands, No. 13 Czech Republic and No. 40 Colombia.

The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) today released a new eight-team schedule for the inaugural WBSC U-18 Women’s Softball World Cup — which will take place in Lima, Peru, from 6-12 December – after the South Africa team could not travel to Peru due to international travel restrictions caused by the new COVID-19 Omicron variant.

Eight teams will now compete in a 28-game round robin, including world No. 2 USA, No. 4 Mexico, No. 5 Puerto Rico, No. 6 Chinese Taipei, No. 10 Netherlands, No. 13 Czech Republic, No. 30 Peru (host) and No. 40 Colombia. The top two teams in the standings after the round-robin will advance to the World Championship Final, scheduled for Sunday, 12 December, at 4 p.m. (all times local). The third- and fourth-place teams will play off for bronze.

The maiden edition of the WBSC U-18 Women’s Softball World Cup, the top international youth women’s softball competition in the world, will be contested at Lima’s Villa Maria del Triunfo Complex, part of the legacy of the Lima 2019 Pan American Games.

All eight teams will compete on opening day, Monday, 6 December. Chinese Taipei and Colombia will lead off the tournament at 10 a.m., followed by the game between Mexico and Puerto Rico. USA, the top-ranked nation in the tournament, will take on the Czech Republic at 3 p.m., while host Peru will make their debut in the tournament against the Netherlands at 7 p.m., immediately following the Opening Ceremony, which is scheduled for 5 p.m.

The inaugural WBSC U-18 Women’s Softball World Cup, which replaces the U-19 Women’s Softball World Cup, had been originally set to take place in 2020. As a result of the one-year delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all players who would have been eligible to participate in the 2020 edition will still be able to play in December.