Thailand will take on India in the opening game of the Women's Baseball Asia Cup 2023 - a qualifying tournament for the IX WBSC Women's Baseball World Cup - following confirmation of the schedule of the tournament, which will take place in Hong Kong, China and consists of three phases. A Qualification Round will take place from 21 to 23 May followed by the Preliminary Round from 26 to 28 May and the Super Round from 30 May to 1 June.
The top three finishers, not counting Japan who are already qualified for the IX WBSC Women's Baseball World Cup as the host of one of the groups, will advance to the premier international event for women's baseball, which is scheduled to take place in August and September this year.
Qualification Round
Six National Teams in the Qualification Round will compete for two spots in the Preliminary Round. World No. 18 India, Malaysia and Thailand will compete in Group A while Group B includes No. 19 Pakistan, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. Hosts Hong Kong, ranked 11th in the world, will also play in Group B but has already earned a spot in the second phase.
The tournament will open in Hong Kong on Sunday, 21 May with India playing Thailand at 10am. Indonesia-Sri Lanka will start at 1:30pm, and the host Hong Kong, China will close the day against Pakistan at 5pm (all times are local). The winners of the two groups will advance to the Preliminary Round.
Preliminary Round
Eight teams will compete in the Preliminary Round with Group A including world No. 2 Chinese Taipei, No. 15 China, No. 11 Hong Kong-China and the Qualification Round Group A winner. No. 1 Japan, No. 10 Korea, No. 14 Philippines and the Qualification Round Group B winner will compete in Group B.
After the round-robin play of the Preliminary Round, the top two finishers of each group will advance to the Super Round.
Super & Placement Rounds
The top two teams from Preliminary Round Group A will play against the first and second-placed teams from Preliminary Round Group B in Super Round play.
The top two teams will then play in the final for the Asia Cup while the third and fourth-placed teams will compete for a bronze medal.
Meanwhile, the bottom two teams from each Preliminary Round group will play each other in the Placement Round to determine positions 5-8.
The full schedule is available on the Women's Baseball Asia Cup 2023 website
IX WBSC Women's Baseball World Cup Qualified Teams
Three teams will qualify for the IX WBSC Women's Baseball World Cup. Japan is already qualified, thus the fourth-place team will go to the World Cup if Japan finishes within the first three places.
Japan (ASIA 1) and the top finisher of the qualifier (ASIA 2) will be included in Group B (Miyoshi City, Japan, 13-17 September) together with World No. 5 Venezuela, No. 7 Cuba, No. 9 Puerto Rico and No. 16 France.
The other two teams from the Asia Cup (ASIA 3, ASIA 4) will be included in Group A (8-13 August, Thunder Bay, Canada) together with No. 3 Canada, No. 4 USA, No. 8 Australia and No. 12 Mexico.
The IX WBSC Women's Baseball World Cup Group A is scheduled from 8 to 13 August in Thunder Bay, Canada.
Miyoshi City, Japan, will host Group B from 13 to 17 September.
