2019 WBSC Premier12

2019 WBSC Premier12
Tournament details
CountriesJapan
Mexico
South Korea
Taiwan
DatesNovember 2–17
Teams12
Final positions
Champions Japan (1st title)
Runner-up South Korea
Third place Mexico
Fourth place United States
Tournament statistics
Games played32
Attendance357,525 (11,173 per game)
MVPJapan Seiya Suzuki
← 2015
2024 →
Gocheok Sky Dome inside WBSC Premier 12 2019
Kim Kwang-hyun 2019 Premier 12

The 2019 WBSC Premier12 was an international baseball championship featuring the 12 highest-ranked national teams in the world, held by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC). It was the second WBSC Premier12 event. The championship was held from November 2 to 17, 2019, in Mexico, South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan.[1]

The tournament served as a qualifier for baseball at the 2020 Summer Olympics. Two quota spots were allocated, with Team Mexico as the top finisher from the Americas earning one spot, and Team South Korea as the top-finishing team from the Asia/Oceania region (excluding Team Japan, which already qualified as host) earning the other.[2][3]

Japan defeated South Korea in the championship game, and the bronze medal game was won by Mexico over Team USA.

Teams

Top 12 Rankings as of December 17, 2018[4]
Rank Team Points Confederation
1  Japan 5796 BFA
2  United States 5565 COPABE
3  South Korea 4987 BFA
4  Chinese Taipei 3569 BFA
5  Cuba 3516 COPABE
6  Mexico 3393 COPABE
7  Australia 2440 BCO
8  Netherlands 2421 CEB
9  Venezuela 2348 COPABE
10  Canada 2186 COPABE
11  Puerto Rico 2105 COPABE
12  Dominican Republic 1920 COPABE

The 12 highest-ranked national teams qualified to participate in the 2019 WBSC Premier12, based on the then-most-recent WBSC World Rankings, which were as of December 17, 2018.[5]

Format

Opening Round

The tournament began with three groups of four teams each playing in the 12-team Opening Round. Each team played three games, in a round robin format against the other three teams in its group.[6]

Super Round

The top two teams from each group then advanced to the six-team Super Round, which was hosted at ZOZO Marine Stadium and the Tokyo Dome in Japan.

In the Super Round, the top two teams that advanced from each of the three groups competed in a round robin format against the top two teams that advanced from the other two groups, for a total of four games played per team.[6]

Finals

Following the conclusion of the Super Round, four teams advanced to the Finals. The four teams were selected based on a combination of the results of the Opening Round game contested between the two teams in the same group that qualified for the Super Round (1 game) and the teams' results in the Super Round (4 games).

The 3rd- and 4th-place teams competed in a Bronze Medal Game, while the 1st- and 2nd-place teams faced each other in the Championship Final at the Tokyo Dome.[7]

Venues

Six stadiums were used during the tournament:

Group A Group B Group B
Mexico Zapopan, Mexico Taiwan Taichung, Taiwan Taiwan Taoyuan, Taiwan
Estadio de Béisbol Charros de Jalisco Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium
Capacity: 16,000 Capacity: 20,000 Capacity: 20,000
Group C Super Round Super Round and Finals
South Korea Seoul, South Korea Japan Chiba, Japan Japan Tokyo, Japan
Gocheok Sky Dome ZOZO Marine Stadium Tokyo Dome
Capacity: 16,813 Capacity: 30,000 Capacity: 46,000

Opening round

Group A

Pos Team Pld W L RF RA RD PCT GB Qualification
1  Mexico (H) 3 3 0 24 5 +19 1.000 — Advance to Super Round
2  United States 3 2 1 21 16 +5 .667 1
3  Dominican Republic 3 1 2 23 20 +3 .333 2
4  Netherlands 3 0 3 6 33 −27 .000 3
Source: [citation needed]
(H) Hosts
Date Local time Road team Score Home team Inn. Venue Game duration Attendance Boxscore
November 2 12:00 Netherlands  0 – 9  United States   Estadio Charros de Jalisco 2:17 3,015 [1]
November 2 19:00 Dominican Republic  1 – 6  Mexico 6 Estadio Charros de Jalisco 2:00 8,000 [2]
November 3 12:00 Dominican Republic  14 – 40  Netherlands 7 Estadio Charros de Jalisco 2:59 5,132 [3]
November 3 19:00 Mexico  8 – 2  United States   Estadio Charros de Jalisco 3:03 10,123 [4]
November 4 19:00 United States  10 – 80  Dominican Republic   Estadio Charros de Jalisco 3:20 3,102 [5]
November 5 19:00 Netherlands  02 – 10  Mexico   Estadio Charros de Jalisco 3:17 6,895 [6]

Group B

Pos Team Pld W L RF RA RD PCT GB Qualification
1  Japan 3 3 0 20 5 +15 1.000 — Advance to Super Round
2  Chinese Taipei (H) 3 2 1 10 9 +1 .667 1
3  Venezuela 3 1 2 11 12 −1 .333 2
4  Puerto Rico 3 0 3 2 17 −15 .000 3
Source: [citation needed]
(H) Hosts
Date Local time Road team Score Home team Inn. Venue Game duration Attendance Boxscore
November 5 18:00 Venezuela  4 – 8  Japan   Taoyuan International Stadium 3:39 3,868 [7]
November 5 18:30 Puerto Rico  1 – 6  Chinese Taipei   Taichung Intercontinental Stadium 2:58 11,852 [8]
November 6 18:00 Puerto Rico  0 – 4  Japan   Taoyuan International Stadium 2:35 4,209 [9]
November 6 18:30 Chinese Taipei  3 – 0  Venezuela   Taichung Intercontinental Stadium 3:56 10,983 [10]
November 7 12:00 Venezuela  7 – 1  Puerto Rico   Taichung Intercontinental Stadium 2:48 618 [11]
November 7 18:30 Japan  8 – 1  Chinese Taipei   Taichung Intercontinental Stadium 3:37 20,465 [12]

Group C

Pos Team Pld W L RF RA RD PCT GB Qualification
1  South Korea (H) 3 3 0 15 1 +14 1.000 — Advance to Super Round
2  Australia 3 1 2 5 9 −4 .333[a] 2
3  Canada 3 1 2 5 6 −1 .333[a] 2
4  Cuba 3 1 2 3 12 −9 .333[a] 2
Source: [citation needed]
(H) Hosts
Notes:
  1. ^ a b c HTH 1–1, Australia 0.067 TQB, Canada, 0.046 TQB, Cuba –0.105 TQB
Date Local time Road team Score Home team Inn. Venue Game duration Attendance Boxscore
November 6 12:00 Canada  3 – 0  Cuba   Gocheok Sky Dome 3:16 250 [13]
November 6 19:00 Australia  0 – 5  South Korea   Gocheok Sky Dome 2:50 5,899 [14]
November 7 12:00 Australia  2 – 3  Cuba 10 Gocheok Sky Dome 3:15 252 [15]
November 7 19:00 South Korea  3 – 1  Canada   Gocheok Sky Dome 3:15 6,000 [16]
November 8 12:00 Canada  1 – 3  Australia   Gocheok Sky Dome 2:50 200 [17]
November 8 19:00 Cuba  0 – 7  South Korea   Gocheok Sky Dome 3:05 13,600 [18]

Super Round

Pos Team Pld W L RF RA RD PCT GB Qualification
1  Japan (H) 5 4 1 27 16 +11 .800 — Advance to gold medal game
2  South Korea 5 3 2 25 21 +4 .600[a] 1
3  Mexico 5 3 2 17 12 +5 .600[a] 1 Advance to bronze medal game
4  United States 5 2 3 11 20 −9 .400[b] 2
5  Chinese Taipei 5 2 3 15 14 +1 .400[b] 2
6  Australia 5 1 4 5 17 −12 .200 3
Source: [citation needed]
(H) Hosts
Notes:
  1. ^ a b South Korea defeated Mexico 7–3.
  2. ^ a b United States defeated Chinese Taipei 3–2.
Date Local time Road team Score Home team Inn. Venue Game duration Attendance Boxscore
November 11 12:00 Chinese Taipei  0 – 2  Mexico   Zozo Marine Stadium 2:49 2,803 [19]
November 11 19:00 Australia  2 – 3  Japan   Zozo Marine Stadium 2:39 17,819 [20]
November 11 19:00 United States  1 – 5  South Korea   Tokyo Dome 3:21 3,012 [21]
November 12 12:00 Australia  0 – 3  Mexico   Tokyo Dome 2:36 2,089 [22]
November 12 19:00 Chinese Taipei  7 – 0  South Korea   Zozo Marine Stadium 3:32 4,056 [23]
November 12 19:00 United States  4 – 3  Japan   Tokyo Dome 3:27 27,827 [24]
November 13 12:00 Australia  2 – 1  United States   Tokyo Dome 2:45 2,149 [25]
November 13 19:00 Mexico  1 – 3  Japan   Tokyo Dome 3:01 31,776 [26]
November 15 12:00 Chinese Taipei  2 – 3  United States   Tokyo Dome 2:37 4,967 [27]
November 15 19:00 Mexico  3 – 7  South Korea   Tokyo Dome 3:34 5,121 [28]
November 16 12:00 Australia  1 – 5  Chinese Taipei   Tokyo Dome 2:57 7,299 [29]
November 16 19:00 South Korea  08 – 10  Japan   Tokyo Dome 3:40 44,224 [30]

Finals

Bronze medal game

Date Local time Road team Score Home team Inn. Venue Game duration Attendance Boxscore
November 17 12:00 United States  2 – 3  Mexico 10 Tokyo Dome 3:15 44,960 [31]

Championship final

Date Local time Road team Score Home team Inn. Venue Game duration Attendance Boxscore
November 17 19:00 South Korea  3 – 5  Japan   Tokyo Dome 3:00 44,960 [32]

Final standings

Awards

Following the conclusion of the tournament, the WBSC announced the Premier12 All-World Team and individual awards winners.[8]

Prize money

The WBSC gave $5.2 million in prize money to participants, distributed as follows, with a minimum of half of a team's prize money to be distributed equally among its players:[9][10]

  • Winner: US$1,500,000 (Japan)
  • 2nd Place: US$750,000 (South Korea)
  • 3rd Place: US$500,000 (Mexico)
  • 4th Place: US$350,000 (United States)
  • 5th Place: US$300,000 (Chinese Taipei)
  • 6th Place: US$250,000 (Australia)
  • 7–12th Place: US$180,000 each
  • Each win in Opening Round: US$10,000
  • Each win in Super Round: US$20,000
  • 1st Place in Opening Round: US$20,000

Controversies

In the Super Round game between South Korea and the United States on November 11, which South Korea won 5–1, a potential blown call by umpire Tetsuya Shibata against South Korea became a topic of debate. In the third inning, baserunner Kim Ha-seong slid back to home plate as catcher Eric Kratz attempted to tag him out. Tetsuya ruled Kim out. Team Korea's coach, Kim Kyung-moon immediately requested a VAR check but was refused.[11] After reviewing slow motion replays online, some criticized the call, claiming it was wrong and that South Korea lost a run. The Korea Baseball Organization met after the game with the tournament's technical directors and filed an appeal,[12] additionally stating that Kratz physically obstructed Kim's path to home plate, in violation of WBSC playing regulations. WBSC responded by saying that it respected Team Korea's perspective and would seek to make improvements in the future.[13] Korean media reports claimed that the Japanese media kept this incident quiet and many ridiculed the controversy in Japan, due to anti-Korean sentiment in the country.[14]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Groups, locations revealed for WBSC Premier12 2019 major international baseball event". WBSC.org. February 13, 2019. Archived from the original on October 20, 2019. Retrieved February 13, 2019.
  2. ^ "Two teams from WBSC Premier12 2019 to qualify for 2020 Tokyo Olympic Baseball". WBSC.org. December 19, 2018. Retrieved February 13, 2019.
  3. ^ "(Premier12) S. Korea beats Mexico to qualify for 2020 Olympic baseball tournament | Yonhap News Agency". Yonhap News Agency. November 15, 2019. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
  4. ^ "World Rankings WBSC". World Baseball Softball Confederation. Archived from the original on November 30, 2015. Retrieved February 13, 2019.
  5. ^ "World's Top 12 nations qualified for WBSC Premier12 2019 major international baseball event". WBSC.org. December 19, 2018. Retrieved February 13, 2019.
  6. ^ a b "WBSC Premier12 Tournament Regulations" (PDF). WBSC.org. July 15, 2019. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
  7. ^ "WBSC Premier12 2019 to be played 2–17 November with Finals at Tokyo Dome". WBSC.org. December 19, 2018. Retrieved February 13, 2019.
  8. ^ "WBSC announces Premier12 MVP, All World Team". WBSC. November 18, 2019. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
  9. ^ "Over $5 million in prize money to be awarded for 2019 WBSC Premier12, 40% increase from first edition in 2015". WBSC.org. August 26, 2019. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
  10. ^ "II Premier12 2019".
  11. ^ "[프리미어12] '홈 막히고, 태그도 없는데' 日 심판 오심에 날아간 한국 득점". MSN. 엑스포츠뉴스. Retrieved November 11, 2019.
  12. ^ "[프리미어12] 심판 배정 공정성 논란에 WBSC "내부 논의 통해 개선할 것"". MSN. 엑스포츠뉴스. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  13. ^ "[프리미어12] '태그 오심 논란' WBSC "한국 의견 존중, 개선하겠다"". The Chosun Ilbo. Sun Soo-min. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  14. ^ "[프리미어12]"한국, 심판 판정에 불만" 일본 언론은 '오심'이라 쓰지 않았다". chosun.com. Na Yu-ri. Retrieved November 12, 2019.