2025 U-12 Baseball World Cup to open in Tainan July 25

Tainan, June 25 (CNA) The 2025 U-12 Baseball World Cup tournament will open in Tainan on July 25, with Taiwan playing host to Cuba in the two teams' first game in the tournament's opening round, the Tainan City government said Wednesday.

Taiwan and Cuba will play the third Group A game on the opening day at the Asia Pacific International Baseball Training Centers in Tainan, the city government said in a statement.

Japan, Mexico, Australia and Germany make up the rest of Group A in the 12-team tournament held every two years by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC).

The defending champion -- the United States -- will play in Group B, along with South Korea, Panama, the Dominican Republic, Czechia and South Africa, according to the city government.

Each team will play the other five teams in the same group in a round-robin format in the opening round, and the teams with the three best records in the two groups will advance to the super round, which begins on July 31.

In the super round, teams will carry over their records against teams from the same group, and each of the Group A teams will play each of the Group B teams.

The top two finishers will play for the world title, and the third and fourth place teams will compete for the bronze medal on Aug. 3, the WBSC said.

In the 2023 tournament, Taiwan won a silver medal, the team's fourth in the seven editions of the U-12 World Cup, which was first launched in Taipei in 2011 and has always been played in Taiwan, according to the WBSC.

Taiwan won the title in 2011 and 2019 and a bronze medal in the 2021 edition that took place in 2022 because of COVID-19.

Aside from Taiwan, only Japan, South Korea and Mexico have competed in all seven editions of the U-12 World Cup.

Although the U.S. missed the inaugural edition, it has won five of the six titles since.