MANILA, Philippines — Following a historic World Cup campaign in Taiwan, the Philippines jumped 10 places from No. 21 to No. 11 in the latest WBSC Women's Baseball World Rankings on September 9.
The Filipina batters thus matched their highest ranking they last achieved in 2023.
"The radical improvement in ranking is a testament to the serious changes being implemented by the NSA," Philippine Amateur Baseball Association secretary general Mike Asuncion told The Manila Times.
"It is the start of a serious campaign which should be sustained from the grassroots. We are happy that the Filipino athlete, more so our women, is starting to get the recognition it deserves."
After falling to world No. 1 and defending champ Japan, the Philippines claimed its first-ever win in any World Cup (male or female) after the Filipina batters stunned then world No. 7 Cuba (now No. 10) with a 6-0 shutout on August 26.
On the same day, the Philippine team scored another upset with a 6-2 win over world No. 15 Great Britain.
The Filipinas lost their last two games and failed to advance to the final stage next year, but their 2-3 record boosted them with 264 ranking points for 516 overall.
Asuncion shared that the Philippine women's baseball team's historic campaign has turned heads.
"It is a long way to go, but this inspires us to work harder to build a better program and ultimately a stronger team. It is timely, because Batang Pinoy 2026 in Bacolod this December will now include baseball again and this time with girls baseball," said Asuncion.
"There are also talks of hosting the first ever BFA East Asia Cup for Women. We have received feelers and invitations for other women's tournaments as a result of the recent good performance."
Japan (2,075 pts), USA (1,428), and Canada (1,365) stayed in top three of the leaderboard followed by Venezuela (1,248) at No. 4 and Taiwan (1,234) at No. 5.
Mexico (990 pts) placed sixth; Australia (692) seventh, South Korea (689) eighth, Hong Kong (605) ninth, and Cuba (535) rounded out the top 10.
