Final WBSC Olympic baseball qualifier to be five-team tourney as China withdraws

PULLY, Switzerland; 07 May 2021 -- The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) today confirmed that the Chinese Baseball Association (CBA) has withdrawn its national team from the WBSC Final Baseball Qualifier, a qualification tournament for the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

The WBSC said that in light of all available information the final qualifier will feature only five teams, and that the game schedule will reflect this.

"The WBSC has acknowledged the decision of the CBA without any further course of action," said the WBSC. "This decision is considered final, and all focus will remain on the five participating teams in the WBSC Baseball Final Qualifier."

The WBSC Baseball Final Qualifier is scheduled from 16 to 20 June at Taichung International Baseball Stadium and Douliou Baseball Stadium in Taiwan.

Three teams have already qualified: World No. 4 Chinese Taipei, No. 6 Australia and No. 9 Netherlands. The other two participants will be the runner-up and the third-place finisher of the WBSC Baseball Americas Qualifier, which will be held from 31 May to 5 June in Florida.

The Chinese National Baseball Team is currently ranked 22nd in the WBSC Baseball World Rankings.

# # #

Contact: media@wbsc.org

About the World Baseball Softball Confederation

Headquartered in Pully, Switzerland -- adjacent to Lausanne, the Olympic Capital -- the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) is the world governing body for baseball and softball. The WBSC has 210 National Federation and Associate Members in 138 countries and territories across Asia, Africa, Americas, Europe and Oceania, which represent a united baseball/softball sports movement that encompasses over 65 million athletes and attracts approximately 150 million fans to stadiums worldwide annually.

The WBSC governs all international competitions involving official National Teams. The WBSC oversees the Premier12, the World Baseball Classic and Baseball World Cups (U-12, U-15, U-18, U-23 and Women's), Softball World Cups, (U-12 Mixed, U-15 Women's, U-18 Women's, U-18 Men's, U-23 Men's, Women's and Men's), and official disciplines Baseball5 (Senior and Youth World Cups) and E-Sports as well as Baseball, Softball and Baseball5 events at the Olympic Games.

For more information, visit www.wbsc.org, which is available in six languages: English, French, Japanese, Korean, Spanish and Traditional Chinese.

25 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is www.aroundtherings.com, for subscribers only