Lausanne, Aug 29, 2016: The World Baseball Softball Confederation today announced the participating nations and the new official emblem for the WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup® 2016, which will be staged in Monterrey, Mexico, from 28 October to 6 November.
The 12 nations who will compete in Monterrey For the Title of World Champion in the U-23 category represent six continents:
• Africa (1): World No. 36 South Africa
• Americas — North and South America (5): No. 7 Venezuela, No. 8 Mexico, No. 15 Panama, No. 18 Nicaragua and No. 27 Argentina
• Asia (3): No. 1 Japan, No. 3 Korea, No. 4 Chinese Taipei
• Europe (2): No. 14 Czech Republic and No. 33 Austria
• Oceania (1): No. 13 Australia
The inaugural U-23 world championship is an expansion of the U-21 Baseball World Cup, which was launched in 2014 and won by Chinese Taipei. Nations will be now allowed to utilise their top players up to 23-years-old.
“With all five Olympic continents represented and the top nations vying for the world title, the U-23 Baseball World Cup 2016 will further showcase our sport’s global reach and competition levels,” said WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari. “This tournament will award the most world ranking points on the 2016 international calendar, so each game will be exciting and impactful.”
In the U-21 world championship in 2014, the selection of National Teams included players from clubs affiliated to the Australian Baseball League, Chinese Professional Baseball League, Korean Baseball Organization, Major League Baseball, Mexican Baseball League, Nicaraguan Professional Baseball League, and Nippon Professional Baseball.
The U-23 Baseball World Cup 2016 will be the top international baseball competition of the year and will award 690 world ranking points to the nation that becomes the first-ever U-23 world champion. (View wbsc.org/rankings)
LOGO REVEALED
The new visual identity of the WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup features the silhouette of a baseball bat handle at the base. The elements at the top of the emblem include the iconic baseball and red stitching — placed inside a hand. The middle section highlights the diverse action, energy and excitement of the ball — being caught, hit or thrown. The overall silhouette of the emblem reflects the world championship trophy of the U-23 Baseball World Cup.
The U-23 Baseball World Cup logo is the latest to be revealed within the Baseball World Cup new and unified branding system. The design project, which will include the Official Look, is being overseen by leading international sports branding agency, The Works, who have also rolled out the Official Looks for top sports properties from FIFA and UEFA.
The Official Look, Tournament Identity and trophy/medals for the U-23 Baseball World Cup 2016 Monterrey will be revealed in the coming weeks. —- WBSC
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