Cuba, Japan, Venezuela and France confirmed their places in Saturday’s medal games following the first day of WBSC Baseball5 World Cup Hong Kong 2024 Super Round action at the Central Harbourfront Event Space in Hong Kong, China on Thursday.
With six teams in the Super Round chasing the top four spots for the medal games, the form teams have already booked their places with unbeaten Cuba (4-0) booking a place in the final after beating Japan 2-3, 5-2, 3-0 - and in the process losing their first set in World Cup history – and Mexico 7-1, 4-0.
Japan (3-1) joined them in the final having beaten Venezuela 3-6, 2-1, 6-3 and having previously beaten France in the Opening Round.
Venezuela (2-2) and France (2-2) will contest Saturday's bronze medal game while Chinese Taipei and Mexico are confirmed in fifth and sixth place respectively.
Meanwhile, in the Placement Round, China, Lithuania and Tunisia are tied in seventh place with three wins and a defeat with all to play for on Friday with one more game to play.
It was a thrilling day of action on Thursday with six out of the 12 games going to a tie-breaker illustrating the drama and intensity of Super Round and Placement Round play.
Defending
champions Cuba’s impressive record of winning every set they have played in a
WBSC Baseball5 World Cup came to end when 2022 finalists Japan claimed the
first set in their clash before Cuba won the next two.
“Cuba has
been a big rival for us, so we were aiming to beat them but for us to take a
set was a very big thing. Unfortunately, we couldn’t go onto win it,” Japan
captain Takuya Shima said after the game. “Hopefully we will play Cuba again in
the final and gain our revenge.”
Cuba first
base Chaquira Azpiazu said the loss of the first set to Japan provided a big
wakeup call. “In the beginning we made too many errors, our coordination wasn’t
good so after the first set we all had a meeting with our coaches. We knew we
had a winning mentality and we were very determined to win the following two
sets. So for the next two sets we adjusted the pace and went onto win,” Azpiazu
said. “Our objective now is to win the final with the ultimate goal to bring
the trophy back to Cuba once again.”
Super Round & Placement Round schedule announced
Cuba first team to book Super Round spot after riveting Day Two action
Defending champions Cuba led Pool A with two wins from as many games after the first day with France and Mexico unbeaten in Group B
Spectacular Opening Ceremony on the first day of competition
This is the second edition of the WBSC Baseball5 World Cup after Mexico City 2022
Cuba are the defending champions, with Japan having finished second and Chinese Taipei third
There are 10 teams returning from Mexico 2022. Australia and China have replaced Kenya and Korea
This the the first time a WBSC World Cup is staged in Hong Kong, China
Hosts Hong Kong finished 12th in Mexico two years ago
The next edition of the WBSC Baseball5 World Cup will take place in Italy in 2026.
The next WBSC Youth Baseball5 World Cup will take place in Mexico in 2025.
The number of teams participating in the next editions of the WBSC Baseball5 World Cup and WBSC Youth Baseball5 World Cup will increase from 12 to 16 teams.
Baseball5 will also feature at the Youth Olympic Games Dakar 2026
Although Cuba look in imperial form, the chasing pack is getting closer. In Mexico, Cuba scored 154 runs for and 16 runs against across their nine unbeaten games and 18 sets. In Hong Kong, Cuba has scored 113 runs and conceded 19 so far from 15 sets across seven games with two more still to play.
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