LAUSANNE, Switzerland – The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), the world governing body, announced the groups and tournament schedule of the 2015 WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup, being staged from 24 July to 2 August in Tainan City, Taiwan.
The WBSC Baseball Tournaments Commission has divided the 12 participating nations into two impressive groups:
It is the first time in history that the top four nations in the world, Japan, USA, Cuba and Chinese Taipei, will be featured together at the U12 World Cup. The elite world championship will also feature ten of the top 16 ranked nations in the world, setting the stage for a truly electrifying tournament.
-Schedule
There will be 50 contests to determine the 2015 U12 World Champions, starting with a group round robin. (See Official U12 World Cup Schedule)
Days 1 – 5 will see 30 games of round robin action, followed by a rest day. Nations will be battling to finish among the top three in their respective groups to advance into the “Super Round Robin”.
Days 7, 8 and 9 will feature the top three finishers from Group A colliding with the top three finishers from Group B in the elite nine-game Super Round Robin. The Super Round Robin is a continuation of the opening round-robin, as head-to-head matches and win/loss records against Super Group members carry over from the opening round robin.
On Day 10, the two Super Group nations with the best overall records will play in the gold medal finale on Sunday, 2 August, while the third- and fourth-place nations will play for bronze.
The nations not advancing to the Super Round Robin will be grouped together to battle for 7th – 12th place in the Consolation Round Robin.
The biannual U12 Baseball World Cup is the only international baseball tournament in this age group to feature National Teams, which are exclusive to WBSC and its Members.
The United States will be heading to Tainan as the defending U12 World Champions, having dethroned the 2011 U12 World Cup Champions Chinese Taipei in 2013.
As an official world championship event, the results of the U12 World Cup have impact on baseball’s official world rankings. The 2015 U12 Baseball World Cup will begin the 4-year world rankings cycle that will eventually determine the qualified nations for the 2019 Premier 12™, a flagship event that could potentially serve as an Olympic qualifier, if baseball and softball are put forward and added to the 2020 Tokyo Games.
Copyright © 2014 – 2015 WBSC. All rights reserved.
