The Premier 12’s Group A & B

At a press conference in Seoul, the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) made public the two divisions that will make up the first ever Premier 12 tournament this fall, which will run from the 8th of November to the 21st. The tournament will feature the top 12 nations in the world in accordance with the IBAF 2014 (International Baseball Federation) rankings. The tournament’s opening game on the 8th of November will take place in Japan at the Sapporo Dome with a matchup that will feature the likes of Japan vs. Korea. The rest of the first round of this inaugural tournament will take place in Taiwan, while the semifinals and finals will be held at the world famous Tokyo Dome in Japan. 

In group A it will be the Italians along side Taiwan, Cuba, Holland, Canada and Puerto Rico. The countries in group B will be made up of Japan, the USA, the Dominican Republic, Korea, Venezuela and Mexico. 

The top four nations out of each group will earn the right to move onto the semifinal round in Japan in a single elimination format with the top two moving onto the finals. 

President of the WBSC, Riccardo Fraccari, “The Premier 12 will help give their world’s top players a chance at representing their countries, ultimately helping to globalize the image of our sport in a particularly important moment where the game is under observation for the possible inclusion in the 2020 Olympic games in Tokyo.”