Puerto Rico replaces China in The World Games softball competition in Birmingham, Alabama

PULLY, Switzerland — The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) today announced that world No. 5 Puerto Rico will replace No. 9 China in The World Games 2022 softball competition, which is scheduled for 9-13 July at Hoover Met Park.

The Chinese National Softball Team has withdrawn from The World Games due to Covid-19 related travel restrictions in effect by the Chinese Government.

With Puerto Rico’s addition to The World Games’ field of teams, the top-eight nations in the WBSC Women’s Softball World Rankings will be participating in Birmingham, in a battle not only for The World Games gold medal, but also for the title of women’s softball world champions.

The groups and schedule have been modified to keep continental balance among the two groups with Puerto Rico joining Group B and Chinese Taipei moving from Group B to Group A, where China was previously:

Puerto Rico and Mexico will open the tournament on 9 July at 10 a.m., followed by Chinese Taipei and Canada at noon. Japan, the Tokyo 2020 Olympics gold medal winning team, will take on Australia at 4 p.m. while USA, the host and top-ranked team of the tournament, will face Italy in Game 4, at 7 p.m.

Softball was part of the first two editions of The World Games, in Santa Clara 1981 and London 1985. At the Kaohsiung 2009 and Cali 2013 Games, softball was part of the programme as an invitational sport.