Team Russia, winners of the gold medal at the 2020 Prague Baseball Week, will not take part in the 2021 edition of the event which begins on Tuesday. The national team was unable to obtain Czech entry visas on time, and the last opportunity to do so fell through last Saturday.
In Group A, Team Russia will be replaced by the U23 Czech national team that is preparing for the upcoming World Championship in Mexico. As a result, the tournament’s opening game on Tuesday evening (19:00 CEST) will pit the Czech national team against the U23 squad. The game, and all others at the tournament, which runs from June 22-June 26, will be streamed via the Czech Baseball Association’s YouTube channel.
Alongside the Czech national team and its U23 and U18 squads, national teams from Slovakia, Spain, and Sweden will also participate, as will the “International Stars”, drawn from the Extraliga’s imports and a long-standing tradition.
According to the WBSC’s international rules in force at the tournament, the games will follow age category rules, which means that the U23 and U18 Czech squads will play 7-inning games.
For more information about the event, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary, visit the Prague Baseball Week website.