Dominican Republic completes field of teams for Tokyo 2020 baseball event

The Dominican Republic's qualification for Tokyo 2020 on Saturday completed the field of teams for the six-team baseball competition in the sport’s much-awaited Olympic return. The Caribbean nation will face tough competition in Tokyo, as they will play Israel, Japan, Korea, Mexico and USA.

As the host nation, Japan was already qualified for the Olympic Games. The Samurai Japan would have been qualified anyway as they won the Premier12 2019, the flagship WBSC international event that also served as the first qualifier for the Olympic Games.

So the second and third-place finishers in the Premier12 were the first nations to earn in a berth in the Olympics.

Korea faced Japan in the final of the Premier12, trying to defend the 2015 title in the Global Battle, but a 3-run shot by Tetsuto Yamada gave Japan the title, leaving Korea in second place. However, Korea qualified to the Olympics as the highest placed team from Asia/Oceania (excluding host Japan) in the tournament.

The second Olympic berth was decided in a face-to-face matchup between USA and Mexico in the Premier12 Bronze Medal Game. The winner would not only be the third team in the podium, but also would became the third qualified nation as the top finisher from the Americas. And Mexico earned the spot in dramatic fashion, with a 3-2 win in extra innings against their northern border neighbours.

The first dedicated Olympic baseball qualifier happened in Parma and Bologna, Italy, from 18-22 September 2019, with the WBSC Baseball Europe/Africa Qualifier. Israel stunned European powerhouses the Netherlands and Italy, 8-1 and 8-2 respectively on consecutive days, on its way to suffering just one loss during the tournament, against the Czech Republic, and finishing tied with the Netherlands. Israel prevailed thanks to the win in the head-to-head game against the Dutch.

With the one-year postponement of the Tokyo Olympics, the last two qualifying events were also moved to 2021. The WBSC Baseball Americas Qualifier took place from 31 May to 5 June in Florida. USA went undefeated to win the tournament and secure their fifth Olympic appearance in history.

The last chance to qualify for this summer’s Olympic baseball event was the WBSC Baseball Final Qualifier, a three-team tournament played in Puebla, Mexico. Dominican Republic swept the opening round with a 10-7 win over Venezuela and a 4-3 victory over Netherlands. In the final match, they met again with Venezuela, and the team managed by Hector Borg defeated “La Vinotinto” by 8-5, to clinch their second Olympic participation after Barcelona 1992.

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games baseball competition will be held from 28 July to 7 August in Fukushima and Yokohama.