World Cup

World Cup commonly refers to:

World Cup can also refer to:

Athletics

Badminton

Bandy

Baseball and softball

Basketball

Chess

Cricket

Equestrian

Football

American football

Association football

Women's baseball

Women's baseball is played in several countries. The strongest and most organized women's baseball leagues are in the United States, Australia, Japan, Taiwan, Cuba, Hong Kong, and Canada. Those countries have national governing bodies that support girls' and women's baseball programs. Other countries/regions that currently have organized women's baseball are France, Croatia, the Netherlands, India, Korea, Venezuela, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, and Pakistan. There also is a handful of women playing baseball in Vietnam currently on the Fishanu team at Hanoi University and on the Hanoi Baseball Club.

Timeline

Important events and milestones in women's baseball:

1867 — The African American Dolly Vardens of Philadelphia became the first paid baseball team on any level — two years before the first men's professional baseball club, the Cincinnati Red Stockings.

1875 — The first women's baseball game for which fans were charged and women players were paid was played between the Blondes and the Brunettes in Springfield, Illinois on 11 September.

Baseball World Cup

The Baseball World Cup was an international tournament in which national baseball teams from around the world competed. It was sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF). Along with the World Baseball Classic, it was one of two active tournaments considered by the IBAF to be a major world championship. The baseball tournament at the Summer Olympic Games was also considered a major world championship while baseball was an Olympic sport.

The Baseball World Cup was discontinued in favor of an expanded World Baseball Classic tournament. The IBAF will sanction two brand new tournaments: the 21 and Under World Cup in 2014 and a senior tournament involving the best 12 teams of the world called the WBSC Premier12 in 2015.

History

There have been 38 Baseball World Cups to date and the last World Cup was held in 2011 in Panama. The first tournament, held in 1938, featured only two teams, but the last tournament included 22 participants; the previous two featured 16 and 18 teams (in 2007 and 2005, respectively). The World Cup was originally called the Amateur World Series, until the tournament in 1988. Until 1988, the Amateur World Series was held in intervals of one to four years, except for the eight-year period from 1953–61. From 1988 to 2001, the Baseball World Cup was held in intervals of two to four years. After 2001, the tournament was held every two years.

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, future tournaments will be sanctioned by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC). In the six times it has been held, the tournament has been won twice by United States and most recently four times by Japan in 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2014.

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 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 bronze medal game, with the winner earning third place and the loser receiving fourth place. The semifinal winners play 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 to the mercy rule applied to a ten run lead after 5 innings or 4 innings with a twelve run lead.

2016 World Cup

2016 World Cup may refer to: