Competition System
The Beijing 2008 Olympic softball tournament comprises of two stages:
preliminary and Page System playoff.
Preliminary
The format is a round-robin competition, with each team playing seven games
in the preliminary phase. The top four teams will then play in the Page System
playoff.
Page System Playoff
The Page System shall comprise of two semi-finals, one final and one grand
final.
The Page System will take place over two competition days. The two
semi-finals and the final will be played on the second to the last day and the
grand final will be played on the last day.
First semi-final: The teams ranked third and fourth in the round robin shall
play for a place in the final; the loser is the fourth.
Second semi-final: The teams ranked first and second in the round robin will
play for a place in the grand final; the loser will play in the final.
Final: The winner of the first semi-final and the loser of the second
semi-final shall play for the second place in the grand final; the loser is the
third.
Grand final: The winner of the second semi-final and the winner of the final
will play for the first place; the loser is the second.
Game Duration
Usually a softball game takes two hours. All games must go seven innings,
except as provided for in Article 7.12 b and 7.12 c in ISF Technical
&Procedural Code for the World Championships and Olympic Games. If, after
the completion of seven innings of play, the score is tied, the tie breaker will
be played to determine the winner.