Shanghai steps up to Olympic plate

China has won the right to host an Olympic softball qualifying tournament, after the venues and dates for all six qualifiers for the Tokyo Games were revealed on Monday.

Shanghai will stage the Asia/Oceania qualifier from Sept 24-29, with the event featuring eight teams-six from the Asian Games and two from Oceania-battling for one of six spots at Tokyo 2020.

Canada and the Netherlands are the other two softball hosts, with Chinese Taipei, Italy and the United States each staging an Olympic baseball qualifier.

"These next two years-2019 and 2020-will be the most important in the history of international baseball and softball," said the president of the World Baseball and Softball Confederation (WBSC), Riccardo Fraccari.

"With the announcement of the locations and timeline of the Olympic qualifiers, players, national federations, leagues and fans around the world can now see the exciting and challenging path it takes to get to Tokyo 2020, where the competition for Olympic gold in baseball and softball promises to be among the biggest storylines."

The WBSC executive board voted on the venues at the headquarters of the Italian National Olympic Committee in Rome, following bid presentations.

The first Olympic baseball qualifier will be played from Sept 18-22 in Bologna and Parma, Italy.

The top five finishers of the 2019 European Championship and the top team in Africa will battle for one spot in the Africa/Europe qualifier.

The WBSC's flagship Premier12 2019 tournament (Nov 2-17)-the top international baseball event of the year-will now potentially allocate two spots to the Tokyo Games, with the top team in the final standings from the Asia/Oceania territory (excluding Japan) and the top finisher from the Americas qualifying for the six-team Olympic baseball competition.

The WBSC executive board made a ruling in Rome that if no team from Asia or Oceania finishes among the top six, the Olympic slot will be deferred to the last qualifier.

An eight-team Americas qualifier has been confirmed for March 2020 in Arizona, with one place up for grabs at the Olympics.

The first Olympic softball qualifier will be held in Utrecht, Netherlands, from July 23-28, with eight teams-comprised of the top six finishers at the European Championship and the top two teams in Africa-battling for one spot at the Tokyo Games.

The Americas qualifier will be staged from Aug 25-Sept 1 in Vancouver, Canada, featuring as many as 16 teams, with the top two advancing to the Olympics.

September's Asia/Oceania qualifier in Shanghai completes the schedule, with China needing to win that tournament in order to advance to Tokyo 2020.

The United States was the first team to qualify for Tokyo 2020, winning the WBSC Women's World Championship last year in Chiba, Japan.

Host Japan has been granted automatic entry into both the baseball and softball competitions at the Tokyo Olympics.