Baseball at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Qualification explained

See main article: Baseball at the 2020 Summer Olympics. Six national teams qualified to compete in baseball at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo . As host, Japan automatically qualified. Israel also qualified, by winning the Africa/Europe Qualifying Event in September 2019.

In addition, two teams qualified through the November 2019 WBSC Premier12 tournament. Mexico qualified as the best team from the Americas, and South Korea qualified as the best team from Asia or Oceania (other than already-qualified Japan).[1] The United States qualified by winning the Americas Qualifying Event in early June 2021.[2]

The last spot was awarded to the Dominican Republic, for winning the Final Qualifying Tournament in late June 2021.[3] [4]

Timeline

Event Dates Location(s) Berth(s) Qualified
Host nation1
Africa/Europe Qualifying Event18–22 September 2019 Bologna / Parma1
2019 WBSC Premier122–17 November 2019 Tokyo12
Americas Qualifying Event31 May–5 June 2021[5] [6] Port St. Lucie / West Palm Beach1
Final Qualifying Tournament22–26 June 2021[7] Puebla1
Total 6

1 The WBSC Premier12 was played in Japan, Mexico, South Korea, and Taiwan, with the final in Tokyo.

Africa/Europe Qualifying Event

Israel qualified for the Olympics by winning the two-continent qualifying tournament for Europe and Africa. The tournament was a round robin. It was held in Parma and Bologna, Italy, from 18 to 22 September 2019. It featured six teams: the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Israel, and the Czech Republic (the top five teams in the 2019 European Baseball Championship), and South Africa (the winner of the 2019 African Baseball Championship).

Petr Čech of the Czech Republic led the tournament in batting average (.500), and Danny Valencia of Israel led in runs (7), home runs (3), RBIs (9), walks (5), and slugging percentage (1.000). Pitchers Orlando Yntema of the Netherlands and Joey Wagman of Israel tied for the lead with two wins, and Wagman led in complete games (1) and strikeouts (14).[8]

As the winner of the tournament, Israel qualified to compete in the Tokyo Olympics. The second-place team in the event, the Netherlands, received another qualification opportunity in the Final Qualifying Tournament.[3]

Standings

----------------1 game postponed 4–4 in 6th inning; continued 20 September.[9]

2019 Premier12

See main article: 2019 WBSC Premier12.

The top 12 teams on the WBSC men's baseball ranking list at the end of 2018 qualified for the November 2019 Premier12 competition. Teams from the Americas, Asia, and Oceania were able to qualify for the 2020 Olympics through this tournament. Mexico earned a quota spot as the top finisher from the Americas, and South Korea earned a spot as the top finisher from Asia or Oceania (excluding the already qualified host, Japan).[1]

Final standings

width=25Rkwidth=170Teamwidth=25Wwidth=25L
171
253
Bronze medal game
362
444
Eliminated in Super Round
543
625
Eliminated in Group stage
712
712
712
1012
1003
1003

Americas Qualifying Event

The United States won the eight-team Americas Qualifying Event, and was thereby awarded the one quota spot allocated to the winner of the tournament.[10] The teams that finished in second and third place in the event, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela, progressed to the Final Qualifying Tournament.[3]

All six American teams that had competed in the 2019 Premier12 but did not qualify for the Olympics in that tournament received a place at this Qualifying Event. In addition, the event included the top two finishers at the 2019 Pan American Games that did not qualify for the 2019 Premier12. The event was originally scheduled to be held from 22 to 26 March 2020, in Arizona, but was postponed to 31 May through 5 June in Port St. Lucie and West Palm Beach, Florida, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[11] [6]

Canada, the Dominican Republic, the US, and Venezuela advanced to the four-team Super Round. Canada came in fourth, and was thus eliminated from possible Olympic qualification.[12]

Jeison Guzman of the Dominican Republic led the tournament in batting average (.571), Julio Rodríguez of the DR led in runs (7), José Bautista of the DR led in walks (6), and Juan Francisco of the DR led in home runs (4) and RBIs (9).[13]

Qualification

2019 Premier12
2019 Pan American Games

See main article: Baseball at the 2019 Pan American Games.

Group A

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Group B

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Super Round

----

Final qualifying tournament

The Dominican Republic, as the winner of the Final Qualifying Tournament in late June 2021 in Mexico, earned the final qualification spot for the 2020 Olympics. Three teams took part. Six teams were originally scheduled to take part: the runner-up from the Africa/Europe Qualifying Event, the runner-up and third-place team from the Americas Qualifying Event, the top two finishers from the 2019 Asian Baseball Championship that had not already qualified for the Olympics, and Australia (which was chosen to represent the Oceania region).[4] [14] [15]

The tournament was originally scheduled to be held from 1 to 5 April 2020 in Taichung and Douliu, Taiwan. It was initially postponed to 17 to 21 June, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[16] Following the decision to postpone the 2020 Olympic Games to 2021 due to the pandemic, the WBSC again postponed the tournament, this time to 16 to 20 June 2021 in Taiwan.[17] In May 2021, due to a spike in domestically transmitted COVID-19 cases in Taiwan and new restrictions imposed by the local government, the WBSC moved the final qualifier to 22 to 26 June 2021, in the city of Puebla, Mexico.[7] [18]

On 7 May 2021, China withdrew from the competition.[19] Chinese Taipei also withdrew on 2 June 2021, due to concerns related to player safety from COVID-19 in Mexico, leaving four teams and no Asian representation at the tournament.[20] On 8 June 2021, Australia withdrew from the tournament, due to logistical issues caused by COVID-19, leaving just three teams to compete.[21]

Qualification

2020 Americas Qualifying Event
  • (runner-up)
  • (third place)
2019 Africa/Europe Qualifying Event
  • (runner-up)
2019 Asian Baseball Championship

See main article: 2019 Asian Baseball Championship.

  • (winner) (withdrew)
  • (third place) (withdrew)
Oceania representative
  • (withdrew)

Round robin

--------

Final

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: (Premier12) S. Korea beats Mexico to qualify for 2020 Olympic baseball tournament | Yonhap News Agency . 15 November 2019 . En.yna.co.kr . 18 November 2019 . 7 June 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210607113508/https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20191115010500315 . live .
  2. Web site: Baseball Americas Qualifier 2021 – The official site – WBSC. olympicbaseballqualifier.wbsc.org. 31 May 2021. 31 May 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210531190410/https://olympicbaseballqualifier.wbsc.org/en/2021/e-2021-americas-baseball-olympic-qualifier. live.
  3. Web site: WBSC announces hosts, dates of Tokyo 2020 Olympic Baseball/Softball Qualifiers. 20 January 2019. 13 September 2019. 7 October 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191007175253/http://www.wbsc.org/olympic-news-wbsc-announces-hosts-dates-of-tokyo-2020-olympic-baseball-softball-qualifiers/. live.
  4. Web site: WBSC reveal groups and schedule for Baseball Americas Olympic Qualifier. 20 November 2019. 22 November 2019. 11 January 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200111115112/https://www.insidethegames.biz/index.php/articles/1087240/baseball-americas-olympic-qualifier-draw. live.
  5. Web site: WBSC Olympic baseball qualifiers to be staged in June in Florida and Taichung/TPE. World Baseball Softball Confederation. 16 March 2021. 16 March 2021. 16 March 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210316222419/https://www.wbsc.org/news/wbsc-olympic-baseball-qualifiers-to-be-staged-in-june-in-florida-and-taichungtpe. live.
  6. Web site: Tokyo 2020 Olympics: WBSC Baseball Americas Qualifier to be staged from 31 May to 5 June in The Palm Beaches & St. Lucie County, Florida . . 17 April 2021 . 13 April 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210413154031/https://www.wbsc.org/news/tokyo-2020-olympics-wbsc-baseball-americas-qualifier-to-be-staged-from-31-may-to-5-june-in-the-palm-beaches-st-lucie-county-florida . live .
  7. Web site: WBSC Baseball Final Qualifier for Tokyo 2020 moved from Taiwan to Mexico. World Baseball Softball Confederation. 20 May 2021. 20 May 2021. 20 May 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210520151750/https://www.wbsc.org/news/wbsc-baseball-final-qualifier-for-tokyo-2020-moved-from-taiwan-to-mexico. live.
  8. https://olympicbaseballqualifier.wbsc.org/en/2019/stats/leaders "2019 Stats Leader Board"
  9. https://olympicbaseballqualifier.wbsc.org/en/2019/schedule-and-results "Baseball Europe/Africa Qualifier"
  10. Web site: U.S. baseball team clinches slot in Tokyo with aid of MLB veterans. 6 June 2021. Reuters. 6 June 2021. 6 June 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210606035430/https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/us-baseball-team-clinches-slot-tokyo-2021-06-06/. live.
  11. Web site: Olympic baseball qualifying tournament in Surprise, Tempe postponed due to coronavirus. USA Today. 12 March 2020. 12 March 2020. 6 October 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211006220628/https://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/olympics/2020/03/12/olympic-baseball-qualifying-tournament-surprise-tempe-postponed/5035221002/. live.
  12. Web site: Baseball Americas Qualifier 2021 – The official site – WBSC. olympicbaseballqualifier.wbsc.org. 5 June 2021. 7 June 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210607131056/https://olympicbaseballqualifier.wbsc.org/en/2021/e-2021-americas-baseball-olympic-qualifier/standings. live.
  13. Web site: Baseball Americas Qualifier 2021 – The official site – WBSC. olympicbaseballqualifier.wbsc.org. 7 June 2021. 7 June 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210607234136/https://olympicbaseballqualifier.wbsc.org/en/2021/e-2021-americas-baseball-olympic-qualifier/stats/leaders. live.
  14. Web site: Tokyo 2020: Two Baseball spots still up for grabs . WBSC . 6 December 2019 . 6 December 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191206191629/https://olympicbaseball.wbsc.org/en/2020/e-2020-final-baseball-olympic-qualifier/news/tokyo-2020-two-spots-still-for-up-for-the-grabs-in-baseball . live .
  15. Web site: Final Baseball Qualifier: Australia confirmed as Oceania representative . WBSC . 6 December 2019 . 6 October 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211006220635/https://www.wbsc.org/news/australia-will-represent-oceania-at-the-final-baseball-qualifier . live .
  16. Web site: Final Olympic Baseball Qualifier postponed to June . WBSC . 6 March 2020 . 17 March 2020 . https://archive.today/20200317083702/https://olympicbaseball.wbsc.org/en/2020/e-2020-americas-baseball-olympic-qualifier/news/final-olympic-baseball-qualifier-postponed . dead .
  17. Web site: Final Olympic Baseball Qualifier postponed to a date TBD. World Baseball Softball Confederation. 25 March 2020. 26 March 2020. 28 October 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201028205653/https://www.wbsc.org/news/final-olympic-baseball-qualifier-postponed-to-a-date-tbd. live.
  18. Web site: Final Olympic Baseball Qualifier to run 22–26 June in Puebla, Mexico. World Baseball Softball Confederation. 28 May 2021. 28 May 2021. 6 October 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211006220628/https://www.wbsc.org/news/final-olympic-baseball-qualifier-to-run-22-26-june-in-puebla-mexico. live.
  19. Web site: Final WBSC Olympic baseball qualifier to be five-team tourney as China withdraws. World Baseball Softball Confederation. 7 May 2021. 7 May 2021. 6 October 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211006220634/https://www.wbsc.org/news/final-wbsc-olympic-baseball-qualifier-to-be-five-team-tourney-as-china-withdraws. live.
  20. News: Olympics-Taiwan pulls out of baseball qualifying tournament over COVID-19 fears . 3 June 2021 . . June 3, 2021 . en . 3 June 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210603183036/https://www.reuters.com/article/olympics-2020-baseball-taiwan/update-1-olympics-taiwan-pulls-out-of-baseball-qualifying-tournament-over-covid-19-fears-idUSL2N2NL08M . live .
  21. Web site: TEAM AUSTRALIA WITHDRAWS FROM FINAL QUALIFIER. Baseball Australia. 7 May 2021. 9 June 2021. 9 June 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210609005010/https://baseball.com.au/news/team-australia-withdraws-from-final-qualifier/. live.

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