Japan, Chinese Taipei to meet in Final of WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup on Sunday, millions expected to watch

TAINAN, Taiwan — The youth National Baseball Teams of Japan and Chinese Taipei will meet in the Final of the V WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup® at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday at the 8,000-seat Asia-Pacific International Baseball Stadium. Japan, winner of the Super Round, will be the home team.

The Final, which will crown baseball’s new World Champion in the U-12 category, will be broadcast live nationwide via Taiwan’s biggest sports broadcaster, Videoland, and by J SPORTS, one of Japan’s biggest cable sports networks.

“This is an exciting rivalry match-up that millions of baseball fans in Chinese Taipei, Japan and around the world will want to see,” said WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari. “Youth baseball is some of the most engaging sports content in both Chinese Taipei and Japan, and tomorrow you can see why.”

The previous two Finals of the U-12 Baseball World Cup (2015 and 2017) sold out the 11,000-seat Tainan Municipal Baseball Stadium.

The world championship final will be preceded by the bronze medal match between Cuba and Korea at 2:00 p.m., with the Caribbean team as the home team.

Following the Finals on Sunday, the WBSC U-12 All-World Team and Most Valuable Player will be announced.

As an official baseball world championship, world ranking points will also be distributed following the conclusion of the WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup 2019.

Social Media Buzz

The excitement leading to the Finals has generated over 6.5 million impressions and more than 2.5 million video views across WBSC’s OTT and social media platforms.

Live-streams of the U-12 Baseball World Cup 2019 have registered viewers from over 100 countries and territories.

Road to the Finals

The road to the Finals began with 34 nations competing in the continental championships/qualifiers from 2018.

Three-time defending U-12 World Champions USA were knocked out in the opening round of the U-12 Baseball World Cup 2019.

In the previous meeting between Asia’s baseball superpowers, Japan defeated Chinese Taipei, 7-4, in the opening round last Sunday, 28 July.

It will be Japan’s first appearance in the Final, since the U-12 Baseball World Cup was launched in 2011, while Chinese Taipei won the inaugural edition in 2011 and has been to the Finals in each of the first four editions.

Cuba and Korea last met in the Super Round, with Cuba winning, 10-8. Cuba’s highest finish was second-place in 2011, while Korea has yet to medal in the youth world championship.

The Finals will be live-streamed (subject to geo-blocking) on WBSC’s new OTT platform at https://gametime.sport and WBSC’s official YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/wbsc.

For full event coverage, including news, live play-by-play, stats and standings, visit the official website of the U-12 Baseball World Cup at u12bwc.wbsc.org.