A women's softball world championship predates the ISF's event. A championship was held in Canada between several American and Canadian teams in 1952 and 1953. Australia had also hosted an international tournament that predated the first Women's World Championship. In 1965, the first ISF Women's World Championship was held in
Melbourne, with games being played at
Albert Park. Five nations competed at the inaugural championships including the United States, Japan and Australia, which Australia won 1–0 in a final game against the United States. In the game, Australia was held to only two hits while the United States had four. In 1970, ten countries participated. The Japanese won competition after having twelve consecutive wins and beating the Americans 3–0 in a final game spectated by 30,000 people.
Taiwan's leadership discussed inviting China to compete at the 1982 competition which was the country was hosting. Ching-khou and Wang Shen supported mainland China's participation in the event and an invitation was issued but the Chinese government elected to not send a team. The 1990 edition was the seventh to be held, with six countries having played hosts to the competition. Teams that competed in 1990 included the US, New Zealand, China, Australia, Chinese Taipei, Japan, Canada, Italy, Netherlands, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Philippines, Bahamas, Netherlands Antilles, Mexico, Aruba, Bermuda, Indonesia, Argentina, and Zimbabwe. The United States took home gold, New Zealand silver and China bronze. {{Quote box Teams that will be competing at the 2012 edition include Australia, Canada and Japan who will play in the same pool. The competition was scheduled to act as a replacement for the Olympics. ==Results==