The Asian Professional Baseball Championship (APBC), which was revived after six years, confirmed the schedule to be held in November 2023. The schedule overlaps with the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier 12, which was established in 2015 and was held every four years.

However, it seems unlikely that the baseball team will be dualized. The 3rd Premier 12 is expected to break the 4-year cycle and unfold after 2024.

The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) announced on the 16th that the 2nd APBC, in which Korea, Japan, Taiwan and Australia will participate, will be held at Tokyo Dome, Japan from November 16th to 19th next year.

Four countries play a full league in the qualifiers, and then the first and second place teams advance to the final to compete for the championship. According to Japanese media, the total prize money is 53 million yen 메이저사이트 (approximately 550 million won).

Unlike other international competitions, such as the World Baseball Classic (WBC) and Premier 12, APBC, which is attended by countries that operate Asian baseball leagues, places restrictions on the age and career of participating players. The national team consists mainly of ‘young players’, such as under the age of 24 or under 3 years of professional experience, and three players with no age or experience restrictions can be selected as wild cards.

APBC, where the first tournament was held in 2017, was planned to be held every four years, but the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19) in 2020 made it unclear whether the next tournament would be held.

However, the Japan Baseball Organization (NPB) actively promoted the revival of APBC for the internationalization of baseball and the accumulation of experience in international competitions by young players. And at the Asia Baseball League Secretary General’s Meeting held in Japan last fall, a consensus was formed about reopening APBC.

The biggest stumbling block to the revival of APBC was the 3rd Premier 12. The Premier 12 hosted by WBSC is a stage to determine the world’s strongest baseball team, and the 2019 tournament also served as a baseball qualifier for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

If the Premier 12, which is held in the fall after the end of each league, is held every four years, the third competition had to be held in November 2023, which overlaps with the APBC schedule.

Fortunately, it did not happen that both competitions were held at the same time. The 3rd Premier12 has not decided on an exact date for the event, but WBSC has indicated that it will not hold the event until at least 2023.

As the 5th WBC, which was postponed in the aftermath of Corona 19, opened in March next year, Premier 12 was held in another year to avoid attention. Never before has the WBC and Premier 12 been held in the same year.

As a result, the Korean baseball team will participate in three international competitions: the WBC in March next year, the Hangzhou Asian Games in September, and the APBC in November.