Cuba and France booked their spots in the final of the WBSC Youth Baseball5 World Cup in Ankara, Türkiye after the first day’s play of the Super Round on Friday. Mexico and Türkiye also confirmed their place in the bronze medal game.
In
another superb day of Baseball5 action, the day's most anticipated match between
France and Cuba lived up to its billing as the two unbeaten teams went head to
head before Cuba
ran out 11-1, 7-4 winners.
The two will have a
much-anticipated rematch in the final on Sunday due to Cuba’s 4-0, 3-0 defeat
of Chinese Taipei in their second match of the day and France’s
come-from-behind 2-4, 3-1, 4-2 win over home team Türkiye.
Despite their loss to
France, a 6-3, 4-0 win over Mexico earlier in the day was enough for Türkiye to secure a rematch with the Central
Amercians in the bronze medal game on Sunday. Mexico defeated China 6-3, 5-4 to
clinch their spot to contest for the tournament’s bronze medal.
The other Super Round match
saw China beat Chinese Taipei 6-0, 8-5.
Meanwhile, Ghana lead the
standings in the Placement Round after beating Tunisia 12-1, 4-1 followed by a 5-2,
8-1 win over Malaysia, who had earlier beaten Australia 7-1, 6-4 for their
first win over the tournament.
Australia also clinched
their opening victory in Ankara with an entertaining 4-2, 1-9, 8-4 win over
Zambia.
Korea also collected a
11-1, 3-4, 7-1 win over Zambia, followed by a 1-6, 10-0, 9-4 loss to Tunisia.
The last day of the Super and Placement Rounds takes place on Saturday, starting off with a Super Round match between France and China.
