Canada to open Premier12 against Cuba

Photo: Baseball Canada

April 15, 2019

By Adam Morissette

Baseball Canada

OTTAWA- Canada’s path to qualification for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic baseball competition will officially begin on November 6 of this year against No. 5 Cuba as the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) today unveiled the game schedule for Group C of the 2019 WBSC Premier12, the year's biggest international baseball event.

No. 10 Canada will then face host No. 3 South Korea on November 7, followed by a match-up against No. 7 Australia on November 8 to round out Group C play with all games taking place at the Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul.

Group A will take place in Guadalajara, Mexico and feature No. 2 USA, No. 6 Mexico, No. 8 Netherlands and No. 12 Dominican Republic, while Group B, including No. 1 Japan, No. 4 Chinese Taipei, No. 9 Venezuela and No. 11 Puerto Rico will play in Taichung, Taiwan.

The top two teams from each group will advance to Japan to compete in the Super Round from November 11-16, which will be staged at the Tokyo Dome and Chiba's ZOZO Marine Stadium, with the Premier12 Championship Final and bronze medal match to be played at the Tokyo Dome on Sunday the 17th.

Two spots in Tokyo 2020 will be determined at Premier12 with the top finishing country from the Americas (Canada, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and USA), and the top finishing country out of Australia, Chinese Taipei and South Korea gaining entry into the Olympic baseball competition.

Held every four years, the Premier12 features baseball's 12 best nations from the WBSC World Rankings.

To view the complete schedule online, visit the official website of the 2019 WBSC Premier12 at premier12.org.