The Philippines won the XIII East Asia Baseball Cup by beating Hong Kong, 10-2, in the final in Bangkok, Thailand.
The winners and the host Nation Thailand advanced to the XXX Asian Baseball Championship.
The Philippines, ranked 42nd in the WBSC Men's Baseball World Rankings, went through the tournament undefeated. They beat Singapore, Cambodia and Malaysia in group play and outscored world No. 79 Thailand (12-4) and world No. 54 Hong Kong (8-1) in the Super Round.
Thailand beat Singapore (13-0) in the third-place game.
Despite losing against the Philippines and Thailand in group play, world No. 83 Laos beat Cambodia and Malaysia in the Placement Round to finish fifth.
East Asia Baseball Cup Final Standings
1 Philippines
2 Hong Kong
3 Thailand
4 Singapore
5 Laos
6 Cambodia
7 Malaysia
The Baseball Federation of Asia (BFA) launched the Asian Baseball Cup in 1995. After nine editions, BFA split the event into the East Asia and the West Asia Baseball Cup.
The Philippines have won all four editions of the East Asia Cup. They previously won two editions of the Asian Baseball Cup, 1995 and 1997.
Pakistan defeated Palestine on home soil to win the West Asia Baseball Cup in February.
The XXX Asian Championship is scheduled from 19-26 November in Taichung, Taiwan.
Eight National Teams will compete: World No. 1 Japan, No. 4 Chinese Taipei, No. 5 Korea, No. 23 China, No. 38 Pakistan, No. 42 Philippines, No. 65 Palestine, No.79 Thailand.
The Asian Championship will qualify the top three finishers for the WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup 2024.
