The ISF (International Softball Federation) has officially announced the calendar for this year World Cup of Softball, which will be played in Haarlem, Holland from the 15th through the 24th of August. Team Italy finds themselves in what may just be the toughest pool of the tournament, along side USA, Australia, Netherlands, Chinese Taipei, Dominican Republic, Great Britain and Botswana. “It’s without a doubt a tough group of teams in Pool B, both groups will be hard to get through, however Group A does seem to be a little lighter,” Marina Centrone. In Group A it will be Japan, Canada, China, Porto Rico, Cuba, New Zealand, the Czech Republic and Russia that will fight it out in the first round.
"Our ambition is to be able to pass through the first round, and we’ll need at least 3 wins," says Marina Centrone. "We’re gonna have to count on stealing a game from both the Netherlands and Taiwan, two clubs that we suffered losses to during the last cup, which cost us a passage to the second phase of the tournament." Team Italy will kick things off against the Dominican Republic on the 15th of August at 11.45 am, followed by Australia a day later. Their biggest test of all will come when they hit the field on the 21st to take on the always strong team USA club.
