The entire 2020 Olympic softball field will be set by the first of October of this year after the World Baseball Softball Confederation earlier this week announced the dates for the remaining qualifying tournaments.
Three qualifying tournaments will be held, set to take place in Canada, China, and the Netherlands. Participation in each event will be geographically-based, designed to allow a world representation on the Olympic stage.
Japan and the United States are the only teams that have already been confirmed for the Olympic Games; the US qualifed last summer by winning the Women’s Softball World Championship, while Japan, as the host country for the 2020 Games, was granted an automatic entry into the field.
2019’s first qualifying tournament will be held in Utrecht, Netherlands, Europe from July 23-28. Eight teams will participate and one Olympic berth will be handed out. The eight participating teams will come from Europe and Africa, with the top six teams from the European Championship and the top two teams from Africa earning the right to compete for the bid to Tokyo.
The Americas Olympic Softball Qualifier will be hosted in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada from August 25-September 1. The event is the largest qualifer of the summer, with a maximum 16-team field, and will award two Olympic berths.
Asia and Oceania (Australia) will compete in the year’s final qualifier, for the sixth and final Olympic berth. The Asia/Oceania event will be held from September 24-29 in Shanghai, China. Eight teams will participate in the qualifier; six teams from the Asian Games and two teams from Oceania.
The European Championship – a pre-Qualifier event that will determine participation in the Europe/Africa Olympic Qualifier – is set to take place in the Czech Republic from June 30-July 6, some two weeks prior to the OQ.
