Baseball5 World Cup
Most recent season or competition:
2022 Baseball5 World Cup
SportBaseball5
Inaugural season2022
AdministratorWorld Baseball Softball Confederation
No. of teams12
Most recent
champion(s)		 Cuba (1st title)
(2022)
Most titles Cuba (1 title)
Related
competitions		Youth Baseball5 World Cup
Official websitehttps://www.wbsc.org/baseball5-events-overview
Tournaments

The Baseball5 World Cup (B5WC, and sometimes referred to as the Senior Baseball5 World Cup)[1] is a mixed-gender Baseball5 (B5) world championship that occurs every two years, with the first edition held in 2022 in Mexico and contested by 12 countries.[2][3] It is governed by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC).[4]

History

The B5WC was originally planned to happen in December 2020 in Mexico.[5] The COVID-19 pandemic led to the delay of the B5WC to June 2021;[6] however, the continued impact of the pandemic delayed the B5WC further. It was later decided that the WC would be played every two years, starting in 2022.[3]

The 14-team 2020 European Baseball5 Championship held in February and March saw France and Lithuania take the two available Europe berths to qualify for the inaugural B5WC.[7][8] The Oceania qualifier was scheduled to be played in Australia in 2021.[9] The Asia qualifiers were scheduled to be played in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in April 2021,[10] but were then postponed due to COVID-19 to August 17–19, 2022.[11][2]

The first edition of the tournament was won by Cuba, who finished the championship undefeated.[12]

Format

The 12 countries participating in the World Cup are geographically broken down as follows:[6]

The following format is used for the World Cup: there are 12 countries that play a total of 50 games over seven days. The tournament will be played in three venues, with the 12 teams separated into two groups of 6 each playing a single round-robin, followed by a "super round" and then the finals.[1] The super round consists of the top three teams from each group, with the results of the group stage being used in the super round for any matchups between countries that played each other in the group stage.[13]

Each team has five active players and eight players total on the roster, with the mixed-gender nature of the tournament requiring teams to have half of their roster to be of each gender, and at least two active players per gender in the game.[5][14]

Players must be a minimum of 15 years old.[15]

Results

Year Host Final Third place game
Champions Score Runners-up Third place Score Fourth place
2022
Details 		Mexico
Mexico City
Cuba 		2–0
Japan
Chinese Taipei 		2–0
Venezuela

Medal table

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Cuba1001
2 Japan0101
3 Chinese Taipei0011
Totals (3 entries)1113

Participating nations

Teams 2022 Years
 Australia × 0
 Chinese Taipei 3rd 1
 Cuba 1st 1
 France 9th 1
 Hong Kong 12th 1
 Japan 2nd 1
 Kenya 8th 1
 Lithuania 11th 1
 Mexico 5th 1
 South Africa 7th 1
 South Korea 10th 1
 Tunisia 6th 1
 Venezuela 4th 1
No. of
Teams 		12

See also

References

  1. ^ a b WBSC Baseball5 World Cups Hosting Bid Outline (Archived 8 May 2021 at the Wayback Machine) World Baseball Softball Confederation
  2. ^ a b "WBSC Asia Baseball5 World Cup Qualifier to take place in Malaysia". World Baseball Softball Confederation. Retrieved 2022-05-25.
  3. ^ a b "Inaugural Baseball5 World Cup to take place in 2022". www.insidethegames.biz. 10 December 2020. Archived from the original on 2020-12-10. Retrieved 2021-10-07.
  4. ^ "New bidding guidelines revealed for WBSC Baseball, Softball, Baseball5 World Cups – Asia Softball Confederation". Retrieved 2021-10-07.
  5. ^ a b "Continental quota confirmed for Baseball5 World Cup & Youth Baseball5 World Cup". wbsc.org. Retrieved 2021-10-07.
  6. ^ a b "WBSC Executive Board postpones Baseball5 World Cups to June 2021". wbsc.org. Retrieved 2021-10-07.
  7. ^ "France win inaugural Baseball5 European title by defeating Lithuania". www.insidethegames.biz. 1 March 2020. Archived from the original on 2020-04-23. Retrieved 2021-10-07.
  8. ^ "France are the first Baseball5 European champions". wbsc.org. Retrieved 2021-10-07.
  9. ^ "Baseball Australia". baseball.com.au. Retrieved 2021-10-12.
  10. ^ "OCA » Kuala Lumpur to host first continental qualifier for Baseball5 World Cup". ocasia.org. Retrieved 2021-10-12.
  11. ^ "Asia Cup Baseball5, qualifiers for WBSC World Cup, postponed to a later date". wbsc.org. Retrieved 2021-10-12.
  12. ^ "Cuba crowned first ever WBSC Baseball5 World Champions". World Baseball Softball Confederation. 12 November 2022. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
  13. ^ "Ten days to go: 10 things to know about the Baseball5 World Cup". World Baseball Softball Confederation. Retrieved 2022-11-05.
  14. ^ OFFICIAL WBSC BASEBALL5 RULEBOOK 2021 (Archived 26 December 2019 at the Wayback Machine) World Baseball Softball Confederation "In mixed gender competitions the defensive team must have at all times a minimum of two athletes per gender on the field."
  15. ^ "Baseball5 World Cup 2022 at El Zocalo by the Numbers". World Baseball Softball Confederation. Retrieved 2022-11-07.
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