Bollate, Italy hosts 2017 Euro Women’s Softball Championship

Bollate, Italy becomes the epicenter for European softball from June 25 to July 1, 2017. Bollate, located in the northwest part of Milan, provides an exciting venue for teams from 23 countries who will compete for the top gold medal honors in softball.

The 2017 Women’s Softball Championship is a single round-robin tournament broken into four groups of five or six teams. This year’s competition is hosted by defending European champion Italy, who to secure its 10^th Euro title defeated 2013 champ the Netherlands twice in the 2015 international competition.

Group A favorite Italy plays Spain, Switzerland, France, and Croatia, while Germany, Greece, Slovakia, Ireland and Lithuania face 2015 runner-up the Netherlands in Group B action. Group C features 2015 Bronze recipients Czech Republic, Austria, Sweden, Poland, Israel and Hungary. 2015 fourth place finishers Russia head up Group D along with Great Britain, Ukraine, Denmark, Belgium and Bulgaria.

The 2017 Euro Women’s Softball Championship is the prelude to the 12^th Annual WBSC Junior Women’s Softball World Championship in Clearwater, Florida from July 24-30, 2017. 8^th-ranked the Netherlands, 12^th-ranked Italy, 13^th-ranked Czech Republic, 14^th-ranked Great Britain, 31^st-ranked Ireland, and 37^th-ranked Israel are among the 26 nations competing in the youth softball flagship event.

by Roberto Angotti