November 28, 2016
（November 25, 2016）LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- The World Baseball Softball Confederation today unveiled the updated 2016 standings in the Official WBSC Baseball World Rankings, which weigh a country's entire National Team programme (from U-12 to Professional) in international competition over a four-year period (2013-2016).
The updated rankings follow the recent results of the U-23 Baseball World Cup® 2016, which awarded baseball's biggest payout of ranking points this year, the U-18 Baseball World Cup 2017 Americas and Asia qualifiers (COPABE U-18 Pan-Am Baseball Championship and BFA U-18 Asia Baseball Championship), the CEB European Baseball Championship and the CONSUBE South American Baseball Championship, and various international head-to-heads, including the WBSC Global Series 2016. Any points accumulated in the second-half of 2012 have now fully expired.
Five continents, Asia, Europe, North and South America, and Oceania, are represented within the Top 12 -- the critical cutoff (in 2018) for qualifying for the flagship PREMIER12® 2019, which will be a main qualifier for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.
Japan has extended its lead as the top-ranked baseball nation after having earned the title of world champion in the U-23 category by winning the U-23 Baseball World Cup 2016 in Monterrey and Saltillo, Mexico, earlier this month. The world title in Mexico, along with 1st Place at the U-18 Asia Championship in September, has propelled Japan's lead over No. 2 United States from 62 points to 741 points.
With a bronze at the U-23 Baseball World Cup, the Republic of Korea has solidified its No. 3 position and has advanced within striking distance of the No. 2 spot, closing the distance behind the U.S. from 641 to 105 points. Korea also gained points with a 3rd Place finish at the U-18 Asia Championship, which qualified the nation for the U-18 Baseball World Cup 2017.
Chinese Taipei and Cuba remain No. 4 and No. 5 in the rankings. Both nations won silver medals in their respective U-18 continental championships to qualify into the U-18 Baseball World Cup 2017.
The other Asian countries from 13th to 70th are ranked as follows:
18 China (+1), 26 Hong Kong (-1), 34 Thailand (-2), 39 Philippines (-8), 48 Indonesia (+1), 54 Sri Lanka (+1), 56 Mongolia (+1), 60 India (+1), 66 Singapore (-6), 69 Afghanistan (-), and 70 Nepal (+1)
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