Press release World Baseball Softball Confederation
LAUSANNE- Switzerland – The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) today announced that all 54 games of the XII WBSC Junior Men’s Softball World Championship 2018 in Prince Albert, Canada, will be live-streamed and available to audiences worldwide for free through the Official WBSC YouTube Channel at www.youtube.com/wbsc.
Thirteen National Teams from the five Olympic continents will be a part of the global battle in Prince Albert, with Guatemala and Hong Kong making their historic debuts.
“The WBSC Junior Men’s Softball World Championship 2018 is the world’s top men’s softball competition on this year’s international calendar, and we are excited to showcase this global event exclusively through the WBSC YouTube Channel,” said WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari. “With this strategy we raise awareness of our sport’s growing global footprint, while connecting with more fans and new followers around the world through this engaging live content.”
The WBSC Junior Men’s Softball World Championship 2018 opens Saturday, 7 July, at 10:00 a.m. local time, with Denmark versus Mexico (Group A) serving as the group-stage opener of the global tournament.
For the Opening Round of the Junior Men’s Softball World Championship, production across the two main venues will feature three cameras, with production expanded to four cameras for the final four playoff games. All games will feature running commentary in English.
The nations competing For the Title of World Champion have been drawn into two groups:
- Group A: No. 3 Japan, No. 4 Argentina, No. 5 Australia, No. 9 Mexico, No. 11 Denmark, No. 14 South Africa and No. 16 India.
- Group B: No. 1 New Zealand, No. 2 Canada, No. 6 United States, No. 7 Czech Republic, No. 15 Guatemala and No. 17 Hong Kong.
The top four nations from each group will advance to the playoffs, which begin on 13 July.
Japan will head to Prince Albert as the defending World Champion, after going undefeated two years ago in Midland, USA, and defeating New Zealand in a thrilling 2-1 World Championship Finale.