The World Baseball and Softball Confederation (WBSC) officially announced today the schedule of the two groups for the third edition of the Premier 12. The 12 participants were selected via the WBSC World Ranking. On November 9, the opening game between the Netherlands and Panama will take place, scheduled for 01:00 PM at the Pan American Stadium of Guadalajara in Mexico.
Puerto Rico and the United States will take the field at 04:00 PM at the Santa Teresita Stadium in Tepic. Mexico will face Venezuela at 08:00 PM in Guadalajara to complete the opening day of group A. The Cuban group (B) will commence on November 13 with Japan playing against Australia at the Vantelin Dome Nagoya (06:00 AM Cuba time), in addition to the games at the Tianmu Stadium (Dominican Republic-Cuba 06:30 AM ) and the Taipei Dome (Korea-Taipei 06:30 AM) in Taipei City. The Taipei Dome and Tianmu Stadium will host the remaining 12 matches until November 18.
Cuba will play again on November 14 against Korea at 06:00 AM (Cuban time), the day of the 15th in Taipei will be a rest day for the Cubans, they also will play against Australia at 12:01 AM on November 16 November at the Tianmu Stadium. On Sunday the 17th they will clash against Japan at 06:00 AM in the and will close against the locals on November 18 at 06:30 AM in the Taipei Dome.
“Today is another exciting day in the build-up to the Premier12, WBSC’s flagship tournament,” said WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari. “From the opening game between the Netherlands and Panama in Mexico to the final on November 24 in Tokyo, Japan, the path is now paved for Premier12 glory, showcasing the best of international baseball along the way.”
The complete schedule for the first round of Premier12 2024 consists of a total of 30 gamess, 15 games per group. After round-robin play, the top two finishers from each group will compete in the Super Round. The first and second place teams from the Super Round will compete in the Premier12 Championship game, while the third and fourth place finishers will play for a bronze medal.
The Tokyo Dome will host the Super Round (November 21-23). The medal games are scheduled for November 24. In the inaugural Premier 12 (2015) Korea beat the USA to win the title. Japan defeated Mexico and finished . The Premier 12 attracted more than 300,000 fans over 32 games in the second and most recent edition in 2019.
Humberto Guevara, technical head of the National Baseball Commission, was a guest on the ‘Bola Viva’ program on Cubavisión Internacional approximately a month ago and offered some news regarding the Cuba team for the Premier 12. Guevara confirmed what we have discussed having players from MiLB on our team, since only players that are not on a 40-man roster can play in the Premier 12.
“We are going to try to begin preparations in Cuba in the first week of September until October 15. After that date we want to travel to Asia, preferably Korea or Chinese Taipei, to overcome jet lag and also carry play some exhibiton games with teams from some Asian countries. “We are in a complicated group, that of Asia, with the three powers of that continent (Japan, Korea and Chinese Taipei), while Australia and the Dominican Republic are also very talented ballclubs.