The WBSC Premier12 is the international baseball tournament organized by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), featuring the 12 highest-ranked national baseball teams in the world. The first tournament was held by Taiwan and Japan in November 2015. The second tournament, 2019 WBSC Premier12, was held in November 2019, and served as a qualifier for two teams for baseball at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Current season, competition or edition: 2024 WBSC Premier12 | |
 | |
| Sport | Baseball |
|---|---|
| Founded | November 2015 |
| Founder | World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) |
| No. of teams | 12 |
| Continent | International |
| Most recent champion(s) |  Chinese Taipei (1st title) |
| Most titles | Chinese Taipei (1 title) Japan (1 title) South Korea (1 title) |
Overview
editFrom 1938 to 2011, the International Baseball Federation (IBAF), then the governing body of baseball, considered the Baseball World Cup to be the sport's major world championship.[1] Following the 2011 version of the event, the IBAF chose to discontinue the tournament in favor of the World Baseball Classic.[2]
In 2005 the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that baseball and softball would be removed from the Summer Olympics beginning in 2012.[3] Thereafter, the IOC also officially reclassified baseball and softball as two different disciplines of the same sport.[4] In 2013, the IBAF merged with the International Softball Federation to create the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC).[5]
On 27 November 2014, the WBSC announced the creation of the Premier12 tournament, calling it "the new flagship pro baseball nations championship," which would be held every four years.[6][7] It was viewed as an event to fill in the calendar in place of the Baseball World Cup, since the World Baseball Classic took its place and an attempt to boost baseball's bid for inclusion in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.[8][9] The WBSC proposed that, if baseball did return to the Olympics for 2020, the 2019 WBSC Premier12 be used as a qualifying tournament.[10]
On 11 September 2023, the WBSC officially announced the third staging of the tournament for 2024, to be hosted in Japan, Taiwan and a venue in the Americas,[11] later chosen to be Mexico.[12]
Participants
editThe field of the tournament consists of the 12 best national teams in the world according to the most recent WBSC World Rankings.[6]
Across three stagings of the tournament a total of 14 teams have qualified for at least one edition, with 10 of those teams having qualified for all three events. Of all the qualified teams, the majority have been from the Americas and Asia and none have qualified from Africa. At least one team from Europe has qualified for every tournament and Oceania has had one team (Australia) qualify for the last two tournaments.
| Team | Appearances | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Total | First | Latest | |
| Chinese Taipei
|
3 | 2015 | 2024 |
 Cuba
|
3 | 2015 | 2024 |
 Dominican Republic
|
3 | 2015 | 2024 |
| Japan
|
3 | 2015 | 2024 |
 Mexico
|
3 | 2015 | 2024 |
 Netherlands
|
3 | 2015 | 2024 |
 Puerto Rico
|
3 | 2015 | 2024 |
| South Korea
|
3 | 2015 | 2024 |
 United States
|
3 | 2015 | 2024 |
 Venezuela
|
3 | 2015 | 2024 |
 Australia
|
2 | 2019 | 2024 |
 Canada
|
2 | 2015 | 2019 |
 Italy
|
1 | 2015 | 2015 |
 Panama
|
1 | 2024 | 2024 |
Results
edit| Year | Hosts | Final | Third place game | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Champions | Score | Runners-up | Third place | Score | Fourth place | ||||
| 2015 Details |
Japan Taiwan
|
 South Korea |
8–0 Tokyo Dome, Tokyo |
 United States |
 Japan |
11–1 (F/7) Tokyo Dome, Tokyo |
 Mexico | ||
| 2019 Details |
Japan Mexico South Korea Taiwan
|
Japan |
5–3 Tokyo Dome, Tokyo |
South Korea |
Mexico |
3–2 (F/10) Tokyo Dome, Tokyo |
United States | ||
| 2024 Details |
Japan Mexico Taiwan
|
 Chinese Taipei |
4–0 Tokyo Dome, Tokyo |
Japan |
United States |
6–1 Tokyo Dome, Tokyo |
 Venezuela | ||
| 2027 Details |
|||||||||
Medal table
edit| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Japan | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 2 | South Korea | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 3 | Chinese Taipei | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 4 | United States | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 5 | Mexico | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (5 entries) | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 | |
Theme music
edit- Heroic Charge (Bryce Jacobs)[13][14]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "IBAF World Ranking Notes" (PDF). International Baseball Federation. 13 January 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 May 2019. Retrieved 23 June 2009.
- ^ "Taipei likely to host 2015 inaugural Premier 12 tournament: IBAF head". The China Post. 4 June 2014. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
- ^ Michaelis, Vicki (8 July 2015). "Baseball, softball bumped from Olympics". USA Today. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
- ^ Kolatch, Jonathan (3 September 2013). "Baseball and softball belong in the Olympics". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
- ^ "WORLD BASEBALL AND SOFTBALL CONFEDERATION SETS OUT OLYMPIC VISION". British Baseball Federation. 3 April 2013. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
- ^ a b "Canada qualifies for Premier 12". Baseball Canada. 27 November 2014. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
- ^ Yeh, Joseph (21 January 2015). "Debut Premier 12 baseball tourney to be held in Taiwan, Japan". China Post. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
- ^ Morosi, Jon Paul (23 January 2014). "Baseball, softball might still have pulse for Olympic status". Fox Sports. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
- ^ "New baseball tournament for top 12 national teams announced". ESPN.com. ESPN. Associated Press. 19 January 2015. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
- ^ "Baseball qualifying for 2020 Tokyo Games would be tricky". USA Today. Associated Press. 9 October 2015. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
- ^ "III WBSC Premier12 presented by RAXUS to be staged from 10 to 24 November 2024, Finals at Tokyo Dome". WBSC. 11 September 2023. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
- ^ "Guadalajara, Tepic chosen host cities for Premier12 Group A in Mexico". World Baseball Softball Confederation. Retrieved 30 October 2024.
- ^ "WBSC unveils TV opening for Premier12". World Baseball Softball Confederation - wbsc.org. 29 October 2019. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ Bell, Alex (29 October 2019). "WBSC unveils TV opening for Premier12 global baseball event". Inside the Games. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
External links
edit- IBAF Congress approves new Format of International Tournaments Official IBAF Website
- ‘Premier12’ Elite Baseball World Championship to be Launched in 2015 Official IBAF Website
- Mundial de Béisbol Premier 12 Resultado de los juegos y estadísticas.