Three teams qualify for WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup: Chinese Taipei, Korea, Japan to represent Asia

The U-12 Asian Baseball Championship came to an end on Saturday, with three teams qualifying for the WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup 2025 presented by RAXUS. World No. 2 Chinese Taipei, No. 6 Korea and No. 1 Japan will represent Asia as the top-three finishers in the continental qualifier.

In the gold medal game, Chinese Taipei scored five runs in the first inning to clinch a 5-1 victory against Korea. Both teams finished the tournament with an overall 5-1 record. Li-Yuan Huang pitched six innings for the winners, giving up four hits and one run with two walks and five strikeouts. He was named MVP of the tournament. 

In the bronze medal game, with the third and last ticket to the World Cup at stake, Japan defeated No. 20 China, 10-0 in five innings, to climb onto the last step on the podium. Three Japanese pitchers combined for a no-hitter.

A total of eight teams played the U-12 Asian Baseball championship. World No. 25 Philippines was fifth; No. 31 Hong Kong, China sixth; No. 35 Thailand seventh and unranked India eighth.

The three representatives from Asia join No. 5 USA, No.9 Cuba, No. 10 Panama, No. 12 Dominican Republic and No. 17 Germany, in the World Cup. WBSC Africa and WBSC Oceania will both qualify one team. The WBSC Executive Board will award two Wild Cards.

The dates of the WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup 2025 have been confirmed with Tainan (TPE) hosting the tournament from July 25 to August 3 at the Asia Pacific International Baseball Stadium, the only U-12 purpose-built venue worldwide.