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LAUSANNE,
Switzerland -- The groups and competition format of the eighteen-nation U-15 Baseball World Cup
-- which will be staged from 31-July to 10-August in Baja California Sur,
Mexico, and features ten of the top fifteen countries in the world -- have
been unveiled by Baseball World Cup officials in the Olympic Capital city.
(See Groups.)
Launched
in 2012 and played every two years, the U-15 (ages 13-15) Baseball World
Cup has established itself as the pinnacle of baseball in this age category
-- and like the U-12 (ages 11-12) Baseball World Cup, the U-15 BWC is the
only world championship across all of sport featuring National Teams, with
the best young baseball players in the world, and future stars,
representing their countries and uniting on the Baseball World Cup global platform.
A
total of eighty-three U-15 Baseball World Cup games will be showcased over
eleven days and across three newly renovated venues in the cities of
Constitución, Los Cabos and La Paz.
The
opening/closing ceremonies, championship final, and awards presentation
will take place in La Paz.
Groups
and Seeding
The eighteen participating
National Teams of the II U-15
Baseball World Cup have been seeded and assigned (based on current World Rankings and past
performance at the inaugural U-15 Baseball World Cup in 2012) to one of three
six-nation groups:
Group
A houses No. 4 seed Chinese Taipei, No. 6 seed Italy, No. 7 seed
Mexico, No. 10 seed Brazil, No. 13 seed Czech Republic and No. 18 seed
Tunisia.
Group
B brings together the top two seeds in USA and Japan (who will
also be competing in their first-ever U-15 Baseball World Cup), No. 8 seed
Panama, No. 11 seed Germany, No 14 seed New Zealand and No. 16 seed South
Africa.
Group
C features the 2012 U-15 finalists in No. 3 seed Cuba and
defending champion, No. 5 seed, Venezuela, No. 9 seed Australia, No. 12
seed Argentina, No. 15 seed Hong Kong and No. 17 seed Lithuania.
Competition
Format
U-15
Baseball World Cup action will begin with an initial five match
round-robin. The top two finishers from each group, six nations in total,
will advance to the four-match second round-robin in La Paz, with
head-to-head competitions from the first round carrying over into the next
round.
The
top two finishers escaping the second round in La Paz will play for the
U-15 Baseball World Cup gold medal on championship Sunday, while the third-
and fourth-place finishers will compete for the bronze medal. The two medal
matches will be only contests taking place on the final day.
Consolation
competitions, which will conclude on the eve of championship final, will be
held in Constitución and Los Cabos following the opening round to determine
the classification of the seventh- to eighteenth-place countries.
Baseball's
Next Generation of Stars
Only
in its second edition, the U-15 Baseball World Cup platform will
potentially challenge what is arguably baseball's toughest and best
represented international competition, the U-18 Baseball World Cup -- an
event that has featured superstars like Canada's Brett Lawrie, Japan's Yu
Darvish and Shohei Otani, South Korea's Shin-soo Choo, Cuba's Yasiel Puig
and Arnoldis Champman, and USA's Clayton Kershaw, Justin Upton, Buster
Posey, among countless others -- and which, in 2013, had a potential broadcast reach of 144
million homes and potential online/mobile reach of 20 million.
"World
Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) is proud to be at the forefront of
youth sport with attractive, successfully established and globally
marketable youth engagement platforms like our youth Baseball World Cups
and the youth Softball World Championships," said WBSC President
Riccardo Fraccari, "and the relatively new U-15 Cup is an integral
part of our growth strategy to drive future stars, fans, sponsors, media,
broadcasters -- and attractive host-cities -- to the Baseball World
Cups."
Universality
In
addition to a supreme class of National Teams, the 2014 U-15 Baseball World
Cup possesses an unprecedented degree of global spread for a baseball
event, one that spans Africa (North and South), the Americas (North-,
Central- & South America and the Caribbean), Asia, Europe (Baltics,
Central- and Southern Europe) and Oceania.
It
will be the first time either Africa or Oceania has ever been represented
in the U-15 Baseball World Cup, and the first time ever that each continent
will send two representatives to a baseball world championship -- and the
U-15 will also mark the historic debuts of New Zealand and Tunisia in a
baseball world championship.
"The
global spread and strength of the countries in the 2014 Under-15 Baseball
World Cup will create a truly unique atmosphere and generate great
excitement for the athletes, as they come from all around the world to
share their talents and admire each other on the international stage -- and
shine on it," Fraccari said.
Positive
Economic Impact and Legacy
WBSC
officials are confident that the eighteen-team 2014 U-15 Baseball World Cup
will be an international sporting event that will not only provide a unique
entertainment experience for the local residents and visitors, but will
also serve as an opportunity to showcase the touristic qualities and
culture of Baja California Sur, providing exceptional returns to the host
in terms of stimulating economic activity and community development
throughout the region.
"The 2014 U-15 Baseball World Cup promises not only to be an exciting
showcase for the young athletes and fans, but it also has the properties
that can deliver a sustainable legacy for the local community,"
Fraccari expressed.
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The 2014 WBSC competitions calendar includes the youth U-19 Men's Softball
World Championship in Canada, the Women's Softball World Championship in
the Netherlands, the Women's Baseball World Cup in Japan and the inaugural
youth U-21 Baseball World Cup in Taiwan (ROC).
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