Mister Baseball

The technical commission of the Confederation of European Baseball (CEB) made the draw for the European Championship (EC) Qualifiers, which will be held this summer. The place for the next EC is unknown at the moment, because of the withdrawal of Russia. They are also moving the event from 2009 to 2010. The commission ruled that the seventh ranked team (Italy) from last year’s EC is free from qualifying games if the host is from the best six nations. The German and Dutch Federations are considered as favourites to receive the right to organize the EC.

The qualifiers take place on five different occasions from July 7th until July 12th. Each group has five participants. They will play a single round robin with a final best-of-three series (including first game from preliminary round) between the two first ranked teams. The five winners will be qualified for the next championships.

Groups:
Antwerp, Belgium:
Belgium
San Marino
Switzerland
Austria
Malta

Prague, Czechia:
Czech Republic
Poland
Latvia
Slovenia
Belarus
Estonia (Participation not confirmed)

Karlovac, Croatia:
Croatia
Serbia
Israel
Bulgaria
Lithuania

Trnava, Slovakia:
Slovakia
Hungary
Finland
Ukraine
Romania

Abrantes, Portugal:
Portugal
Norway
Russia
Greece
Ireland

The groups are not official yet, as there is always a possibility of a withdrawal.