Chinese Taipei, USA to meet in Final of WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup 2019 in Gijang, Korea

World Cup among the world’s best young baseball players generating media buzz

GIJANG, Korea — Chinese Taipei and four-time defending World Champions USA will meet in the Final of the XXIX World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) U-18 Baseball World Cup® 2019 tomorrow (Sunday, 8 September) at Gijang-Hyundai Dream Ballpark at 6:00 pm KST.

USA (7-1 overall) won the Super Round, behind the arm of phenom pitcher Alejandro Rosario (3-0), who recorded the fastest pitch of the tournament at 155 km/h (96.3 mph). USA’s Robert Hassell (.516 batting average) helped power the U.S. offense, leading the U-18 World Cup in home runs (2), runs scored (13), RBI (14) doubles (5) and slugging percentage (.936). Many players on the U.S. roster are expected to be selected in the first round of the 2020 Major League Baseball (MLB) draft.

With a roster including Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) draftees, Chinese Taipei (6-2) used victories over Australia and rivals Japan and Korea to finish the Super Round in 2nd Place and earn a spot in Sunday’s world championship final. Weeks ago, Chinese Taipei won the U-12 Baseball World Cup 2019.

The Final and Bronze medal game will be live-streamed on WBSC’s OTT platform at gametime.sport and WBSC’s official YouTube Channel at youtube.com/wbsc (subject to geo-blocking).

BATTLE FOR 3RD/4TH IN THE WORLD

World No. 7 Australia shocked top-ranked Japan today to secure a place in tomorrow’s bronze medal match against Korea, who feature a roster filled with future stars of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) professional league.

The National Teams of Japan and Canada finish the U-18 Baseball World Cup in 5th and 6th Place, respectively.

MEDIA BUZZ

The nine days leading to tomorrow’s Finals — and the exciting action on the field from the world’s best young baseball players — have generated a significant press and social media footprint, further solidifying baseball’s position as one of the world’s most attractive and elite sports across the youth sector.

Highlights – Opening Round and Super Round (Reporting period of 30 August – 7 September)

• Over 200 press credentials were issued, with media presence at the U-18 World cup including Yomiuri Shimbun, the most widely circulated newspaper in the world, and various wire services, amassing a cumulative potential readership of over 1 billion per day, according to data from media intelligence company Meltwater.
• In both the Opening Round and Super Round, the official hashtag #U18WorldCup trended on Twitter, the official social media platform of the WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup 2019.
• Over 53 million impressions and over 8 million views were registered across WBSC’s official social media platforms, helping to generate more than 27 million minutes of watch time.
• WBSC posts on social media generated over 200,000 likes and comments.
• The official WBSC website at wbsc.org registered visits from users in 168 countries and territories.

Korean electronics giant LG is one of the principle partners of the WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup 2019 Gijang.

The road to the WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup 2019 began with the best young baseball players (15-18 years old) and teams representing 38 countries and territories.

Africa (1): South Africa.

Americas (15): Argentina, Bahamas, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Venezuela and USA.

Asia (7): China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea and Sri Lanka.

Europe (10): Czech Republic, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands Spain and Ukraine.

Oceania (5): American Samoa, Australia, Guam, New Zealand and Palau.