WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup Group A preview: Korea & Hong Kong, China open five day battle for a spot in the Finals 2024
The WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup opens on Tuesday with Group A taking place in Thunder Bay, Canada. World No. 3 Canada, No. 4 USA, No. 8 Australia, No. 10 Korea, No. 11 Hong Kong, China and No. 12 Mexico will be battling for two spots in the Finals 2024.
Owners of six medals each in this competition, Canada and USA lead off the tournament as the favourites to clinch one of the spots in the finals. They faced off in Thunder Bay in July last year, with USA winning the series 3-2. The US team outscored Canada 42–21 through the five games.
Even if Canada has a secured place in the Finals 2024 as host team, Group A will be a test for a renovated team with only three players from the 2018 bronze medal winning team in Viera. Veterans Kaitlyn Ross, Allison Schroder and Madison Willan lead a team that is back in the official international stage after four years. Their last appearance was the 2019 Pan American Championship, where they won a bronze. Canada earned a spot in the WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup as the host team, since they didn’t participate in the qualifier played last year in Venezuela.
USA will cross their northern border aiming to advance to next year’s Finals. Manager Veronica Alvarez included 15 players that contributed to winning the 2022 friendship series against Canada. After winning a medal in the first six World Cups (including the World Title in the first two editions), USA has finished out of the medal positions in the last two editions of this event. In 2018, they lost the bronze medal game to Canada, in a 10-inning thriller. Six players of that team will seek revenge this year in thunder Bay.
The third medallist in the group is Australia, winning a silver medal in Caracas (VEN) 2010 and a bronze in Miyazaki (JPN) 2014. TheAustralian team haven’t competed in a major international tournament since a seventh-place finish at the 2018 World Cup. In the last five years, there has been a big roster turnover, with 14 of the 20 rostered players set to make their international debuts. The tournament will represent the World Cup debut for Genevieve Beacom, who made the headlines being the first-ever woman to play professional baseball in Australia, as she pitched one inning for the Melbourne Aces in 2022.
Korea qualified for the World Cup as bronze medallist of the Asian Qualifier, held this past June. Korea used a six-run second at-bat to beat the Philippines, 9-5, in what turned out to be an elimination game. Their last appearance in the World Cup was a ninth place in 2018 in Viera, where they posted a 2-6 overall record.
Hong Kong, China has appeared in five World Cups, including the last three in a row. Their best position has been a seventh place, both in 2006 and 2014. They finished in the 11th position in the last World Cup in 2018, with a 2-6 record. A good result on Day 1 against Korea will put them in position to fight for the top spots in Group A.
Mexico will be one of two newcomers in this WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup (France will make their debut in Group B). They earned their ticket for the Group Stage with a third-place campaign in the Americas Qualifier, recovering from a 4-0 deficit against Cuba in the last two innings to win the bronze medal game, 9-5. They posted an overall 4-3 record.