Following the conclusion of the XVII Softball World Cup in Castions di Strada, Team Italy (#7) now trails the Kingdom of the Netherlands (#6) in the new WBSC/KONAMI Women's Softball Ranking by 227 points. The Dutch finished fourth in the 2024 Softball World Cup, while the Italians registered an 8th place finish.
USA maintains first place at the top (4883 points), despite the jump in the ranking of World Champions Japan (3742 points) surpassing Puerto Rico (3287 points) in the process.
Among the top twenty, Australia (now ranked 9th after a 7th place finish in the Softball World Cup) and China (now ranked 11th after a 5th place finish in the Softball World Cup) also gained positions.
The WBSC/KONAMI ranking is extremely important because the top six ranked teams as of December 31, 2024 will ensure that they are among the eight teams that will compete in the 2025 World Games in Changdu, China.
The next event that will award important points for the WBSC/KONAMI ranking is the Group Phase of the U18 Women's Softball World Cup, in which Team Italy is included in Group B (in Pingtan, China from August 14-18, 2024) along with the Kingdom of the Netherlands
THE COMPLETE RANKINGS
Forza #Italia!
by Nicolò Gatti and Roberto Angotti
(Photo of the first eight positions in the WBSC/KONAMI ranking courtesy of WBSC)
