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The play-off bracket is now set for the ISF Women's World Championships and two perennial powerhouse teams are back at the top.

The United States and Japan were the only teams to go undefeated in round robin play, each posting 7-0 records.

The quarter-finals will begin with the Netherlands taking on Chinese Taipei today at noon, followed by Australia and Puerto Rico at 2:30 p.m.

Canada will face the United States at 5 p.m. and China will take on Japan at 7:30 p.m.

Each of the remaining games will be played on Field One at the Pepsi Softball Centre.

The United States simply overwhelmed their competition in the round robin.

They collected 78 runs while allowing only one against them, a passed ball in yesterday's match-up with Argentina.

The Americans have been at the top of the podium in the last seven World Championships.

At the last Worlds in Caracas, Venezuela in 2010, Canada placed third overall.

Their best finish ever came in 1978 when they won silver after losing to the U.S. 3-0 in the final.

If Canada defeats the U.S. tonight they will face the winner of the Japan and China game in the semi-finals at 5 p.m. on Saturday night.

If they lose, they will be on the field at noon on Saturday taking on the winner of the Netherlands and Chinese Taipei game in a must-win scenario.

A win would keep Canada's gold medal hopes alive and they would go on to face Australia, Puerto Rico, China or Japan at 7:30 tomorrow night.

China tallied a 6-1 record in the round robin, their only loss coming against the United States, 12-1.

Australia posted a 5-2 record, with losses to Canada and Japan, while Puerto Rico went 4-3.

Japan, led by Ueno Yukiko 鈥� one of the top pitchers in the world, was the only other team to post a perfect 7-0 record.

The Canadians lost to Japan in their third game of the tournament. 6-2.

That game was punctuated by mental and physical errors in the in field, mistakes that Mark Smith, Canada's head coach, knows they can't afford to make against the top teams in the world.

"We didn't defend as well as we're capable of,鈥� he said after the loss.

"We gave up a couple of physical errors and a couple of mental errors and you can't make those mistakes against these teams and beat them. It cost us a ballgame.鈥�

The Japanese team also displayed their mastery of putting the ball in play, collecting 12 hits against Canada.

"They're not going to strike out very often and they're going to move the ball,鈥� said Smith.

"They're going to force somebody to make a defensive play and that's the kind of pressure that over time weighs on a team.鈥�

Japan entered the World tournament after defeating the U.S. 9-6 to win gold at the Canadian Open hosted in Surrey, B.C. two weeks ago.

The U.S. went undefeated in pool-play while Japan collected one loss, a 4-3 defeat at the hands of the Americans.

In the gold medal match, the two teams played a defensive game until Japan broke things open in the fourth inning, scoring four runs off of four hits.

The U.S. answered back in the bottom of the sixth, bringing in four runs to tie the game.

Neither team scored again in regulation, forcing the game into extra innings.

Japan tallied five runs in the top of the eighth. They collected three hits and were helped by the uncharacteristically sloppy U.S. defence which had two errors in the infield.

By the time the Americans were up to bat, Japan had pulled away with a 9-4 lead.

The U.S. would add two more runs in the bottom of the inning on a two run home run by Samantha Fischer.

For the up-to-date schedule visit http://worldfastpitch2012.com.

Friday's schedule:

12:00 p.m. 鈥� Netherlands (A3) vs. Chinese Taipei (B4)

2:30 p.m. 鈥� Australia (B3) vs. Puerto Rico (A4)

5:00 p.m. 鈥� USA (A1) vs. Canada (B2)

7:30 p.m. 鈥� China (A2) vs. Japan (B1)