New dates set for Asian qualifiers to 2021 WBSC U-18 and U-12 Baseball World Cups

The next U-18 Asian Baseball Championship, originally set for 2020 and postponed due to COVID-19, will be scheduled in April 2021 in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The top three finishers will advance to the next WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup, which is scheduled for September 2021 in the American cities of Sarasota and Bradenton, Florida.

World No. 1 Japan, Korea (No. 3), Chinese Taipei (4), Pakistan (27), Hong Kong (30), Philippines (32), Sri Lanka (37) and Indonesia (43) are the eight participating teams.

The next U-12 Asian Baseball Championship is set for next March in Tainan, Taiwan. The top three finishers will advance to the 2021 WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup in Tainan.

China (World No.22), Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Pakistan, and the Philippines are the eight participating teams.

The new dates and reworking of the international calendar come after the Baseball Federation of Asia (BFA) Executive Board recently met online, along with WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari and Executive Director Michael Schmidt.

Other events on the BFA programme for 2021 include the XII East Asia Baseball Cup, the XI U-15 Asia Baseball Championship, the inaugural University Baseball Asia Cup, the XXX Asian Baseball Championship (the location will be Taichung, Taiwan) and the third BFA Women's Baseball Asia Cup. The dates and the remaining locations will be decided at a later stage.