HELSINKI, Finland — The top National Teams of world No. 64 Finland, No. 65 Latvia, No. 70 Norway and unranked Estonia will collide 5-7 June in the first-ever Nordic Baseball Open (NBO), to be first staged in the central location of Kostivere, Estonia, just outside capital Tallinn.
The Estonian Baseball and Softball Federation is hosting the inaugural 2015 NBO. The new international tournament, aimed at providing a competitive platform for baseball’s developing nations, is overseen by the Confederation of European Baseball — world governing body WBSC’s baseball arm within Europe. Current plans are to organise the event every two years.
The popularity and competitiveness of baseball in Europe has been steadily rising, with No. 5 Netherlands and No. 11 Italy having qualified into the flagship 2015 Premier12™ pro National Team Championship, which will summon the Top 12 nations in the world to Japan and Taiwan for an elite global battle this November.
With No. 17 Spain, No. 18 Germany and No. 20 Czech Republic (which earned its highest-ever result, 5th place, in a world championship last year at the 2014 WBSC U-21 Baseball World Cup), Europe has five countries (25%) in the Top 20 of WBSC’s Official Baseball World Rankings, while the Americas has 11 representatives (55%), Asia 3 (15%) and Oceania 1 (5%). Africa’s top-ranked country is No. 29 South Africa.
2015 NBO Schedule:
Friday, 5 June
11:30 – Game 1: Norway – Estonia
15:00 – Game 2: Finland – Latvia
18:30 – Game 3: Estonia – Latvia
Saturday, 6 June
11:30 – Game 4: Finland – Norway
15:00 – Game 5: Latvia – Norway
18:30 – Game 6: Estonia – Finland
Sunday, 7 June
11:30 – Game 7 (Championship) TBD vs TBD
-All times EET
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