Taipei, Jan. 2 (CNA) Taiwan moved up three places to third in the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Women's Softball World Rankings, according to the recently released end-of-year rankings.
Taiwan, which competes under the name "Chinese Taipei," surpassed Canada in fourth, Puerto Rico in fifth, and Mexico after a season that saw them clinch the bronze medal at the 2022 World Games in Birmingham Alabama.
The improvement can largely be credited to Taiwan's 6-0 win over Australia in the bronze medal game at the World Games July 13 to secure the team's first podium finish at a world championship since 2002, according to the WBSC.
The WBSC Softball World Rankings measure National Team performance, from U12 to the top level, in WBSC-sanctioned international competitions over a four-year period, the WBSC said in a statement.
The end-of-the-year rankings reflect the addition of points gathered in 2022 and the expiration of all points earned in 2018, according to the WBSC.
At the top of the rankings is the world champions U.S., which won both the World Games softball competition and the Americas Qualifier for the WBSC Women's Softball World Cup. Following in second place is Japan, which snagged silver at the World Games.
Taiwan's women's softball side has qualified for three of the five Olympics in which the sport was a medal event, achieving its best result of fifth at the 2008 Beijing Games.
It has also won four silver medals at the Asian Games, including at the most recent games in Indonesia.
