The fight for an Olympic berth to the 2020 Tokyo games begins in South Surrey this evening.
Team Canada will play Cuba at 7:30 p.m. at Softball City, their first game in the 2019 Americas Olympic Softball Qualifier.
The week-long event – set for South Surrey’s Softball City (2201 148 St.) from Aug. 25-Sept. 1 – will see 12 national teams from North, South and Central America play for two berths in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
Sitting third in current women’s world softball standings, Team Canada – which recently won its second consecutive Canada Cup title – is the highest ranked team among the dozen, and will play in the qualifier’s opening game.
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After this evening’s game, the rest of Canada’s round-robin games – which is in Group A – will begin at 6 p.m. starts – Aug. 26 against Argentia; Aug. 27 against Guatemala; Aug. 28 against Puerto Rico and Aug. 29 versus Bahamas.
Pool B includes Mexico, Venezuela, Brazil, Peru, British Virgin Islands and Dominican Republic.
Once the round robin wraps up, the top three teams in each of the tournament’s two groups will advance to the Super Round, which will run from Aug. 30 until Sept. 1.
The two teams at the top of the finals standings after the Super Round will gain a berth into the Olympics.
Six games are scheduled to take place today, the schedule and standings can be found here.
Opening ceremonies of the tournament begin at Softball City at 6 p.m.
