(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photos by Henk Seppen)
  Netherlands Baseball drops on World Ranking; Softball listed higher
Nederlands
 LAUSANNE (Switzerland) -
The World Baseball Softball Conderation (WBSC) recently announced its new world rankings for baseball.
While there has been an unofficial ranking in the past, the WBSC also presented an official ranking for softball (women and men) for the first time.
Japan is the number one ranked country in both baseball (men's) and softball (women's).
The WBSC said that Japan's top ranking and success on the world stage comes as baseball/softball is the country's top sport, in terms of youth participation, popularity, fan-attendance, broadcast/media coverage and existing infrastructure.
...Netherlands is ranked in 10th place in baseball...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
The Netherlands has dropped from fifth position in the world ranking for baseball and is now listed in tenth place.
Italy is now the highest ranking European country in baseball, as it has climbed from eleventh to ninth place.
The top-12 is the same as in the previous ranking, which was used to determine the field of participants for the Premier12 in November last year.
The top-2 remained the same with Japan in first and the USA in second place.
Chinese Taipei climbed from fourth to third place, which was occupied by Cuba, but that country dropped to fifth place, the former spot of the Netherlands.
In the new ranking, five countries have dropped, including the Netherlands.
The Dominican Republic dropped from sixth to twelfth place.
Five other countries climbed in the ranking, including Italy.
México made the biggest jump, as it climbed from twelfth to seventh place.
The new rankings of course has to do with the accomplishments made during the Premier12.
In that event in Japan and Taiwan, México reached the semi-finals, while the Netherlands was eliminated in the quarter finals.
During the last World Baseball Classic in 2013, the Orange squad reached the semi-finals, then won the European Championship-title in 2015.
The Dutch Team was left empty-handed in the European Finals in 2011 and 2013.
There are six more European countries in the top-30: Czech Republic (16), Germany (19), Spain (21), Russia (25), France (26) and Sweden (29).
Belgium is listed in 34th place.
Aruba is ranked 32nd on the baseball-ranking, while Curaçao is ranked in 66th place.
In women's softball, the Netherlands is the highest ranking European country with its seventh position.
During the 2014 World Championship, the Netherlands Women's Softball Team again qualified for the Play-Offs for the third consecutive time.
Since 2010, the Orange-women climbed from 12th to sixth place in World Championships.
...Netherlands is ranked in 7th place in softball...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
Last year, in an unofficial list, the Netherlands was listed in fifth place.
In this new list, the Netherlands is in seventh place after losing the European Championship-title last year.
In the three previous European Championships, the Dutch Team remained unbeaten and captured three consecutive titles.
Following Japan and the USA in the top-3 is Australia.
Joining the Netherlands in the top-10 of women's softball are reigning European champion Italy (9) and the Czech Republic (10).
There are 22 countries ranked in softball, which also includes Great Britain and Russia, who share 14th place.
Other European countries are currently not ranked.
In men's softball, the Netherlands is ranked in 16th place.
The highest ranking European country is the Czech Republic, which shares seventh place with the USA.
Other top-European countries are Great Britain (11) and Denmark (12).
Other European countries are not ranked.
In men's softball, New Zealand is the number one ranked country, followed by Canada and Australia.
The Netherlands is the lone European country to be ranked in the women's baseball ranking and is placed seventh.
Like in baseball men's and softbal women's, Japan and the USA are listed in first and second place, followed by Australia.
The world ranking system for softball tracks the performance of a country's National Team in the Softball World Championships, including junior and top-tier levels, over a three-year period.
When the ranking was announced, the WBSC stated that its Softball Competitions Commission carried out the assignment of extensively reviewing, developing and introducing an initial world ranking system.
This task force will continue to study the best method for the ongoing expansion of the world rankings to include multi-sport events, regional championships, head-to-heads and other WBSC-recognised international competitions in which WBSC's 141 Members worldwide participate.
,,These new softball world rankings mark another major milestone in the history of our global sport'', said WBSC Softball Division President Dale McMann.
,,These rankings not only provide a benchmarking tool for nations to construct and evaluate their strategic/development plans, but they also give the players and fans a new and exciting way to express the pride of their country through sport.''
The Men’s Baseball World Rankings weighs a country’s entire National Team programme (from U-12 to Pro) in international competition and reflect a 4-year cycle and a data set of more than 1,000 international contests.
In total, 70 countries are listed in the men's baseball-ranking, with 55 countries are not ranked, as they have not received points based on their performances during international or regional events.
In women's softball, 22 countries received points to be ranked.
| WBSC Rankings |
| Baseball (Men) | . | Baseball (Women) | . | Softball (Women) | . | Softball (Men) |
| 1 | Japan | . | 1 | Japan | . | 1 | Japan | . | 1 | New Zealand |
| 2 | USA | . | 2 | USA | . | 2 | USA | . | 2 | Canada |
| 3 | Chinese Taipei | . | 3 | Australia | . | 3 | Australia | . | 3 | Australia |
| 4 | Korea | . | 4 | Canada | . | 4 | Canada | . | 4 | Venezuela |
| 5 | Cuba | . | 5 | Venezuela | . | 5 | Chinese Taipei | . | 5 | Japan |
| 6 | Venezuela | . | 6 | Chinese Taipei | . | 6 | China | . | 6 | Argentina |
| 7 | México | . | 7 | NETHERLANDS | . | 7 | NETHERLANDS | . | 7 | Czech Republic |
| 8 | Canada | . | 8 | Cuba | . | 8 | New Zealand | . | 8 | USA |
| 9 | Italy | . | 9 | Hong Kong | . | 9 | Italy | . | 9 | Dominican Rep. |
| 10 | NETHERLANDS | . | 10 | Puerto Rico | . | 10 | Czech Republic | . | 10 | México |
| 11 | Puerto Rico | . | 11 | Korea | . | 11 | Puerto Rico | . | 11 | Great Britain |
| 12 | Dominican Rep. | . | | . | 12 | Cuba | . | 12 | Denmark |
| 13 | Australia | . | | . | 13 | Dominican Rep. | . | 13 | Samoa |
| 14 | Brazil | . | | . | 14 | Great Britain | . | 14 | Philippines |
| 15 | Nicaragua | . | | . | | México | . | 15 | Colombia |
| 16 | Czech Republic | . | | . | | Russia | . | 16 | NETHERLANDS |
| 17 | Panama | . | | . | 17 | Botswana | . | 17 | South Africa |
| 18 | China | . | | . | 18 | Brazil | . | 18 | Indonesia |
| 19 | Germany | . | | . | 19 | Argentina | . | | Singapore |
| 20 | Colombia | . | | . | | Venezuela | . | |
(April 5)
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