22/08/2023 2 Minute Read

Chinese Taipei takes over from World Champions Cuba at top of WBSC Baseball5 World Ranking

A total of 45 nations and territories are now part of the ranking, with five new Baseball5 programmes earning points: World No. 26 China, No. 38 Nigeria, No. 43 India, No. 43 Benin, and No. 45 Jamaica. With the presence of 11 African nations, the continent accounts for 24% of the total number of Baseball5 programmes in the world (compared to 19 from Europe, 11 from Asia and four from the Americas). It’s the first time Chinese Taipei has reached No. 1 in any WBSC ranking (including all Baseball, Softball and Baseball5 disciplines).

Chinese Taipei became the No.1 Baseball5 programme in the world, replacing Baseball5 World Champions Cuba, with the release of the new WBSC Baseball5 World Ranking. A total of 45 nations and territories are now part of the ranking, with five new programmes earning points: World No. 26 China, No. 38 Nigeria, No. 43 India, No. 43 Benin, and No. 45 Jamaica. Nations from four continents are represented in the top 10.

The world ranking system tracks the performance of a Baseball5 programme in official and WBSC-sanctioned competitions, including youth and top-tier levels, over a four-year period.

The new WBSC Baseball5 World Ranking added points from the Youth Asia World Cup Qualifier, the Youth African World Cup Qualifier, the Internationaux de France and the WBSC-sanctioned friendlies Cuba vs Jamaica, and Japan vs Chinese Taipei. The new updated ranking also saw the expiration of points awarded at the Baseball5 Open de las Americas in 2019.

Chinese Taipei moved up one place to become the best Baseball5 programme in the world with 2,243 points. The title at the Youth Baseball5 Asia Cup last February helped Chinese Taipei move to the highest position in the ranking. It’s the first time Chinese Taipei has reached No. 1 in any WBSC ranking (including all Baseball, Softball and Baseball5 disciplines).

No. 2 France and No. 3 Japan also climbed one position in the ranking and complete the podium; while the biggest improvers in the top-10 belong to No. 4 Tunisia and No. 8 Korea, which gained four positions each in the ranking.

Former No. 1 and reigning World Champions Cuba dropped five places in the ranking, affected by the expiring points from 2019. They are now in the sixth position with 1,393 points.

With the presence of 11 African nations in the ranking, the continent accounts for 24% of the total number of Baseball5 programmes in the world (compared to 19 from Europe, 11 from Asia and four from the Americas), thus confirming the WBSC engagement strategy towards the continent leading up to the discipline's Olympic debut at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games as well as the power of Baseball5 to bring the sport of Baseball/Softball to places previously not possible.

While Tunisia (4th), South Africa (5th) and Kenya (9th) are in the top 12, Ghana was the biggest mover across all programmes, improving 20 places to 13th thanks to their winning campaign in the first Youth Baseball5 World Cup African Qualifier.

With a bronze-medal finish at the Youth Baseball5 World Cup African Qualifier, Zambia also made a big improvement in the ranking, moving from 28th to 17th. World No. 18 Malaysia and No. 20 Tanzania climbed six and four places respectively and joined the top-20 in the world for the first time; while Hong Kong, China improved four places and now sit at No. 14.

Additionally, China entered the ranking for the first time in 26th place, after winning 425 points in the Youth Baseball5 Asia Cup where they finished in second place and qualified for this year’s World Cup, which will allow them to continue climbing in the ranking.

The next Baseball5 global competition will be the WBSC Youth Baseball5 World Cup. Ankara, Türkiye, will host the tournament from 10 to 15 October at the Sports Complex in the Yenimahalle metropolitan district.