WBSC U-18 Women's Softball World Cup Finals 2025: Chinese Taipei, Czechia claim first tickets

World No. 4 Chinese Taipei and No. 10 Czechia are the first teams to clinch tickets to the WBSC U-18 Women's Softball World Cup Finals 2025 in Dallas, USA as both teams put in remarkable performances in the Group A tournament held at the Estádio Municipal de Beisebol Mie Nishi in Sao Paulo Brazil from 23-27 July.

Chinese Taipei ended their Group A campaign with an impressive 9-1 victory over world No. 34 New Zealand, highlighted by Jin-Lin Juang’s walk-off homer. Dominating the tournament, Chinese Taipei outscored their opponents 59-10 and finished four of their six games by the run-ahead rule.

In the final game against New Zealand, Chinese Taipei demonstrated their offensive power early on, with Juang’s walk-off home in the fifth inning sealed their undefeated status.

Yu-Ching Lo had a strong game, going 2-for-3 with two runs. Pitcher Yi-Ting Chou was stellar in the circle, striking out six in five innings, giving up only two hits and one run. She finished the tournament as the leader in ERA, boasting an impressive 0.51 in 13.1 innings pitched.

Wei-Chi Lin also impressed with a 2-for-2 performance, contributing one run. She was named the Most Outstanding Player of Group A. She hit .706 with five RBIs, seven runs scored, four triples, two doubles, and one stolen base. She led the tournament in batting average, hits (12), triples, and slugging percentage (1.294).

Czechia secured their spot in the Finals 2025 with a 7-1 defeat of New Zealand in the Repechage game. Nikola Skardova had a complete game, featuring 10 strikeouts that lifted Czechia to the decisive victory. She allowed only three hits and one run in seven innings of work, which was a great follow-up to her earlier performance to lead her team to 2-0 win over Great Britain in the Play-Offs.

Meanwhile, hosts Brazil came from behind No. 32 Colombia in the seventh inning to record a 6-5 win to finish fifth in Group A.

The top two finishers of Group B and Group C and the best third-placed team across the three groups complete the set of eight participants in the 2025 Finals.

Group B is scheduled from 14-18 August in Pingtan, China. The hosts and World No. 11 China will play with No. 2 Japan, No. 3 Puerto Rico, No. 3 Netherlands, No. 7 Italy and No. 15 Peru.

Group C is scheduled from 29 August to 2 September in Dallas, USA. Team USA will host No. 5 Canada, No. 8 Mexico, No. 9 Australia, No. 16 Philippines and No. 21 Ireland.