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LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- The
World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) unveiled the line-up of the
world's best-ranked nations that have qualified for the first-ever
"Premier 12" -- the new flagship pro baseball world championship
that will feature the National Teams from baseball's 12 highest-ranked
nations and become baseball's highest-ranked international competition,
awarding US$ multi-millions in prize money.
The Top
12 nations that have secured a place in the inaugural Premier 12 in 2015 is
headlined by No. 1 Japan, No. 2 USA, No. 3 Cuba, No. 4 Chinese Taipei, No.
5 Netherlands, No. 6 Dominican Republic, No. 7 Canada, No. 8 South Korea,
No. 9 Puerto Rico, No. 10 Venezuela, No. 11 Italy and No. 12. Mexico.
WBSC
President Riccardo Fraccari celebrated baseball's first-ever collection of
Premier 12 nations.
"WBSC
congratulates the 2015 Class of Premier 12 nations and the athletes who
helped lift their countries to be among the Top 12," Fraccari said.
"These nations represent baseball's best that will unite and deliver
an exciting -- and unmatched competitive parity -- at the inaugural Premier
12. Any one of these elite nations can come out victorious in 2015 and
leave The Premier 12 as the reigning World Champion."
The unveiling
of baseball's most powerful bloc of nations follows the end-of-the-year
calculation of the Official 2014 WBSC World Baseball Rankings, as the final
standings of the rankings in the year preceding The Premier 12 serve as the
exclusive qualifying method into the international baseball showcase. (See
Complete/Final 2014 WBSC World Baseball
Rankings.)
The
release of the 2014 WBSC World Baseball Rankings also marks the historic
rise of the Japanese National Baseball Team, Samurai Japan, which for the
first time ever is the world No. 1, surpassing 2013 leader USA.
The
inaugural Premier 12 participants will represent a global spread that
includes the entire western hemisphere -- North-,
Central- and South America, and the Caribbean -- Asia, and
Northern and Southern Europe. Oceania's No. 14 Australia, which had
been ranked as high as No. 10 in 2012, was just 8.96 rankings points behind
No. 12 Mexico.
All
WBSC's world championship platforms -- from the U-12, U-15, U-18 and U-21
Baseball World Cups to the 2013 World Baseball Classic and
sanctioned/recognised international competitions have shaped the rankings
and qualification into the 2015 Premier 12.
The
Premier 12 logo, and 2015 tournament dates, are expected to be unveiled at
an upcoming press conference.
Following
the 2015 Premier 12, the world championship platform that unites the
world's 12 best nations will be rolled out every four years.
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