The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) will hold three international events — the U-23 Baseball World Cup, U-12 Mixed Softball World Cup, and U-12 Baseball World Cup — in Taiwan for 2022, according to the WBSC Executive Board Wednesday.
The U-23 Baseball World Cup is scheduled to take place in Taiwan’s capital Taipei from Oct. 14-23 and is slated to feature top young prospects from various professional leagues and organizations around the globe, the WBSC said in a statement.
Taiwan competed in the previous edition of the U-23 Baseball World Cup last year, which was held in Mexico, and finished in sixth place, while Venezuela took first place.
Germany and the Netherlands have qualified with four teams from the Americas, three teams from Asia, one team each from Africa and Oceania, and a wildcard team still to be determined.
The U-12 Baseball World Cup is scheduled to run from July 29 to Aug. 7 in Tainan, with Taiwan to be joined by the Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Panama, and Venezuela.
In addition, one team from both Africa and Oceania, and a wildcard will complete the line-up.
The U-12 Mixed Softball World Cup is scheduled from Aug. 10-14 in Taichung, with Taiwan trying to defend its world championship title on home soil against seven other contenders.
Each team will be made up of between 14 and 16 boys and girls aged between 10 and 12. Each team must have at least four girls and four boys on the field, while five boys and five girls must alternate in its batting lineup.
Meanwhile, the U-18 Baseball World Cup will be held in the United States from Sept. 9-18 and showcase some of the best high school-aged baseball players in the world.
Taiwan is the defending U-18 world champion and will participate along with American Samoa, Brazil, Canada, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, Panama, and the U.S., with one team from Africa still to be confirmed.
The U-15 Baseball World Cup is planned to be held in the second half of August and a host is still in the process of being confirmed.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel