Australia-Colombia; South Africa-Nicaragua to open WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup on September 6

The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) revealed the schedule for the WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup 2024, which will be held from September 6 to 15 in Shaoxing, China.

Twelve teams, which are split into two groups during the Opening Round, will participate in the tournament.

Group A will feature World No. 1 Japan, No. 11 Australia, No. 12 Puerto Rico, No. 13 Colombia, No. 18 Great Britain and No. 24 China.

No. 4 Korea, No. 5 Chinese Taipei, No. 6 Venezuela, No. 7 Netherlands, No. 20 Nicaragua and No. 34 South Africa will play in Group B.

The Opening Round will include 30 games, six per day, from September 6 to 10. South Africa-Nicaragua and Australia-Colombia will open the tournament at 10:00 (local time). The opening ceremony is scheduled before China-Great Britain, one of the two games scheduled at 19:00 (local time).

From September 12 to 14, the top three finishers of each group will compete in the Super Round, while the other six participants will play for positions 7 to 12 in the Placement Round.

The top two finishers of the Super Round will compete for the U-23 World Title. The third and fourth-place teams will play for the bronze medal. The medal games, No. 49 and 50 overall, are scheduled for Sunday, September 15.

The fifth edition of the U-23 Baseball World Cup is the first-ever WBSC Baseball World Cup held in China. Japan are the defending champions.