Road to Olympics for Canada’s baseball team goes through Seoul

MEXICO CITY — Canada’s road to the Tokyo 2020 baseball tournament will go through former Olympic host Seoul.

The World Baseball Softball Confederation announced Wednesday the locations and groups for the II WBSC Premier12 competition, one of the qualifiers for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

No. 10 Canada is in Group C with host South Korea, ranked third in the world, as well as No. 5 Cuba and No. 7 Australia. Games will take place from Nov. 2-17.

The games will take place in Seoul’s Gocheok Sky Dome. The Korea Baseball Organization is moving the start of its 2019 season to March 23, the earliest date in history, in order to close the season in October.

Group A features world No. 2 United States, No. 6 Mexico, No. 8 Netherlands and No. 12 Dominican Republic. Games will be hosted at Estadio de Beisbol Charros de Jalisco in Zapopan, Mexico.

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Group B features world No. 1 Japan, No. 4 Taiwan, No. 9 Venezuela and No. 11 Puerto Rico. Taichung Intercontinental Stadium in Taiwan will host the game.

The top two teams from each group will advance to the six-team super round, which will be played at the iconic Tokyo Dome.

The top team in the Premier12 final standing from the Asia/Oceania territory (not including automatic qualifier Japan) and the top finisher from the Americas will gain direct entries into the six-team event at the 2020 Games.

The Canadian Press