Japan win BFA Asia Cup; advance with Chinese Taipei; Hong Kong, China and Korea to WBSC Women's Baseball World Cup Group Stage 2026
World No. 1 Japan. No. 5 Chinese Taipei, No. 8 Hong Kong, China, and No. 10 Korea secured the four Asian spots in the WBSC Women's Baseball World Cup Group Stage 2026, as they finished in the top four spots at the IV BFA Women's Baseball Asia Cup, hosted by China at the Guali Baseball Field in Hangzhou.
Chinese Taipei (4-0) and Hong Kong, China (3-1) qualified for the Super Round out of Group A, ahead of No. 18 China (2-2), No. 17 Thailand (1-3), and No. 11 India (0-4).
Japan (4-0) and Korea (3-1) qualified from Group B ahead of No. 16 Philippines (2-2), No. 11 (tied with India) Indonesia (1-3), and No. 19 Sri Lanka (0-4).
The top seeds outscored Chinese Taipei, 14-4, and Hong Kong, China, 10-0, in the Super Round and qualified for the Championship Game. Chinese Taipei defeated Korea and earned second place.
Japan, WBSC Women's Baseball World Champions in 2024, didn't leave Chinese Taipei a chance in the final, jumping ahead with a seven-run rally in the bottom of the first on their way to an 8-0 win.
Their short-ball strategy resulted in an infield hit and two defensive errors to put the seven-time defending World Champions ahead. Japan broke the score open with three consecutive two-out hits, an RBI double by Honoka Hanamoto, a two-RBI single by Ichika Yamamoto and an RBI triple by Nina Wakizaka.
Sawa Kashizaki dominated Chinese Taipei, allowing only five hits and a walk, while striking out six. Kashizaki earned the tournament's MVP Award.
Hong Kong, China, defeated Korea in a thrilling third-place game, 6-5.
WBSC Asia revealed the All-Tournament team:
- Starting Pitcher: Misaki Sato (JPN)
- Best Reliever: Gaeun Son (KOR)
- Best Catcher: Ichika Yamamoto (JPN)
- First Base: Panpan Wang (CHN)
- Second Base: Yuria Hatanaka (JPN)
- Third Base: Shuang Xu (CHN)
- Shortstop: Yu-ying Hsieh (TPE)
- All-Tournament outfield: Kokoro Mayumi (JPN), Pei-Chen Huang (TPE), and Hei Ting Lay (HKG)
- Best Designated Hitter: Ssu-I Kuo (TPE)
Hatanaka also earned the leading hitter's honours with a .933 batting average and had the most runs scored (12). Her teammates, Sawa Kashizaki (no runs allowed in five innings during group play) and Misaki Sato (two wins and no losses), earned the pitching individual awards. Korea's Hyenoah Kim (12 RBIs) and Yi-Hsuan Chiu of Chinese Taipei (two home runs in 13 at-bats) earned the batting individual awards. Jie Li (China) had the most stolen bases (nine), and Japan's shortstop Nina Wakizaka was voted the best defensive player.
IV BFA Women's Baseball Asia Cup Final Standings
- Japan
- Chinese Taipei
- Hong Kong, China
- Korea
- China
- Philippines
- Indonesia
- Thailand
- India
- Sri Lanka
All results, boxscores and statistics are on WBSC Asia website
The WBSC Women's Baseball World Cup Group Stage 2026
Eight out of 12 teams have already qualified for the XI Women's Baseball World Cup Group Stage.
No. 28 Great Britain became the first team to qualify for the X Women's Baseball World Cup Group Stage when they won the European Championship in August.
WBSC Americas announced that World No. 4 Venezuela, No. 6 Mexico and No. 9 Cuba earned three of the continental four spots in the WBSC Women's Baseball World Cup Group Stage 2026 through the Women's Baseball Pan American Championship.
WBSC Americas will announce the qualification process for the fourth continental spot at a later date.
Oceania will qualify one team and the WBSC will award two Wild Cards to complete the set of 12 participants.
The International Women’s Baseball Center in Rockford, USA, will host one of the two groups from July 22 to 26, 2026.
The WBSC will announce dates and venue for the second group at a later stage.