FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 27, 2006

SCHEDULE SET FOR BEIJING
Olympic Venue to Debut August 27 as 16 Countries Begin World Championship

With next month’s International Softball Federation (ISF) XI Women’s World Championship marking the debut of the new venue being built for the Olympic Softball competition for the 2008 Games in Beijing, it’s only fitting that the first game at the almost 10,000-seat stadium will feature China. The host team taking on Great Britain (following Opening Ceremonies) on August 27 leads off the 66-game schedule announced today by the ISF.

Also serving as the sport’s Olympic Test Event, the world championship brings added significance in that it will qualify four teams for the 2008 Olympic Softball competition.

The first seven days of play at the XI Women’s World Championship will feature eight games each day, as round robin play takes place in the main stadium and the adjacent (also new) facility. Four playoff games will take place on September 3, with four more the next day, followed by the bronze and gold medal games on the final day, September 5.

Other highlights of the schedule include DPR Korea and Greece each making their first-ever appearance in an ISF Women’s World Championship. Opening day sees DPR Korea taking on South Africa, with Greece opening up that evening against 2004 Olympic Softball silver medalist Australia. Team USA, who won the last ISF Women’s World Championship (2002 in Canada) has a Day 1 game against Italy.

A total of 16 countries will be competing in the world championship. In addition to those mentioned above, the following will also be taking part in the (fast pitch) tournament, which takes place every four years: Botswana, Canada, 2002 world championship bronze medalist Chinese Taipei, Colombia, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, and Venezuela.

The full game schedule can be viewed online on the ISF’s official website by clicking here. The TV schedule is expected to be announced next week.

Visit the official 2006 ISF Women’s World Championship website at www.2006softball.org.

 

The ISF is the world governing body of the sport as recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the General Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF). Softball (women's fast pitch) made its Olympic debut at the 1996 Games in Atlanta. There are 130 affiliated countries in the ISF and millions of participants in the sport worldwide.

For more information, please contact ISF Director of Communications Bruce Wawrzyniak at brucew@internationalsoftball.com or (813) 864-0100, ext. 229.