WBSC Premier12

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 in 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.

Not to be confused with World Baseball Classic.

WBSC Premier12
Current season, competition or edition:
2019 WBSC Premier12
FoundedNovember 2015
FounderWorld Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC)
No. of teams12
ContinentInternational
Most recent
champion(s)		 Japan (1st title)
Most titles South Korea (1 title)
 Japan (1 title)

Overview

From 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 a 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]

Participants
See also: WBSC World Rankings

The field of the tournament consists of the 12 best national teams in the world according to the most recent WBSC World Rankings.[6]

Results
Year Final host Final Third place game
Champions Score Runners-up Third place Score Fourth place
2015
Details
Tokyo
South Korea		 8–0
United States
Japan		 11–1
(F/7)
Mexico
2019
Details
Tokyo
Japan		 5–3
South Korea
Mexico		 3–2
(F/10)
United States

Medal table
RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 South Korea1102
2 Japan1012
3 United States0101
4 Mexico0011
Totals (4 nations)2226

See also

References
  1. "IBAF World Ranking Notes" (PDF). International Baseball Federation. 13 January 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 June 2009. Retrieved 23 June 2009.
  2. "Taipei likely to host 2015 inaugural Premier 12 tournament: IBAF head". The China Post. 4 June 2014. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
  3. Michaelis, Vicki (8 July 2015). "Baseball, softball bumped from Olympics". USA Today. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
  4. Kolatch, Jonathan (3 September 2013). "Baseball and softball belong in the Olympics". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
  5. "WORLD BASEBALL AND SOFTBALL CONFEDERATION SETS OUT OLYMPIC VISION". British Baseball Federation. 3 April 2013. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
  6. "Canada qualifies for Premier 12". Baseball Canada. 27 November 2014. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
  7. Yeh, Joseph (21 January 2015). "Debut Premier 12 baseball tourney to be held in Taiwan, Japan". China Post. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
  8. Morosi, Jon Paul (23 January 2014). "Baseball, softball might still have pulse for Olympic status". Fox Sports. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
  9. "New baseball tournament for top 12 national teams announced". ESPN.com. ESPN. Associated Press. 19 January 2015. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
  10. "Baseball qualifying for 2020 Tokyo Games would be tricky". USA Today. Associated Press. 9 October 2015. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
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