Women's Baseball World Cup

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 eight times it has been held, the tournament has been won twice by the United States and six consecutive times by Japan in 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2018.

Women's Baseball World Cup

Most recent season or competition: 2018 Women's Baseball World Cup
Sport	Baseball
Founded	2004
No. of teams	12 (in 2016)
Continent	International
Most recent champion(s)	Japan
Most titles	Japan (6 times)

History

The 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

All 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

Year	Final Host		Final				Semi finalists			Number of teams
			Champions	Score	Runners-Up		3rd Place	4th Place
2004 Details	Edmonton		United States	2 – 0	Japan		Canada	Australia		5
2006 Details	Taipei		United States	13 – 11	Japan		Canada	Australia		7
2008 Details	Matsuyama		Japan	11 – 3 (F/5)	Canada		United States	Australia		8
2010 Details	Maracay [R 1]		Japan	13 – 3 (F/5)	Australia		United States	Venezuela		11
2012 Details	Edmonton		Japan	3 – 0	United States		Canada	Australia		8
2014 Details	Miyazaki		Japan	3 – 0	United States		Australia	Canada		8
2016 Details	Busan		Japan	10 – 0	Canada		Venezuela	Chinese Taipei [R 2]		12
2018 Details	Viera, Florida		Japan	6 – 0	Chinese Taipei		Canada	United States		12
2020 Details	Tijuana									12

Notes

1. 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.
2. 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.

Future

The next World Cup is expected in the second half of 2020, at a venue TBA.

Medal table

Rank	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Japan	6	2	0	8
2	United States	2	2	2	6
3	Canada	0	2	4	6
4	Australia	0	1	1	2
5	Chinese Taipei	0	1	0	1
6	Venezuela	0	0	1	1

Participating nations

Nation	2004	2006	2008	2010	2012	2014	2016	2018	2020	Years
Australia	4	4	4		4		5	7	Q	8
Canada				5		4			Q	8
China									Q	0
Cuba		6		6	8		8	8	Q	5
Chinese Taipei	5	5	5	7	6	5	4		Q	8
Dominican Republic								6		1
France									Q	0
Hong Kong		6	8			7	10	11		5
India			7				11			2
Japan									Q	8
Mexico									Q	0
Netherlands				10	7	8	9	12	Q	5
Pakistan							12			1
Philippines									Q	0
Puerto Rico				8				9		2
South Korea			6	9			6	10		4
United States							7	4	Q	8
Venezuela				4	5	6		5	Q	5
Nations	5	7	8	10	8	8	12	12	12

See also

• Baseball awards#World

References