Eight teams vying for last Tokyo 2020 softball place at WBSC Asia/Oceania qualifier

Eight teams will battle it out for the last available place in the softball tournament at next year's Olympic Games in Tokyo at the Asia/Oceania qualifier in Shanghai this week.

The winner of the competition at the Shanghai Chongming Sports Training Center, which begins tomorrow and concludes on Sunday (September 29), will qualify for the six-nation Olympic softball event at Tokyo 2020.

Chinese Taipei arrive as the highest-ranked team and will play Australia, Indonesia and Hong Kong in Group B.

Group A features China, New Zealand, the Philippines and South Korea.

The top two sides from each group will qualify for the super round, to be played on Saturday (September 28) and Sunday.

China are confident of securing their Tokyo 2020 berth at the qualifier in Shanghai ©WBSC

The team which finishes first in the super round will join already-qualified hosts Japan, Canada, Mexico, world champions the United States and Italy at Tokyo 2020.

China will start as favourites, despite being ranked two places lower than Chinese Taipei, and American head coach Corey Myers said he was "confident" his team can seal the single Tokyo 2020 berth on offer.

"Besides having had a great preparation playing all over the world against top teams including playing in the League in the States, I am confident we will book the last ticket to the Olympics,” said Myers.

"Our team has worked very hard, just as all the teams have, but I believe our team has what it takes to finish tops."