August 3, 2016
SEOUL, Aug. 2 (Yonhap) -- South Korea has been selected to host the first-round games of the international baseball competition next year.
The organizers of the World Baseball Classic (WBC) announced on Tuesday that early rounds of its baseball tournament in the Asian region will be staged at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul and Tokyo Dome in Tokyo in March 2017. The WBC, a quadrennial event that is sanctioned by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), features 16 national teams.
This will be the first time South Korea hosts WBC games since the tournament was launched in 2006. The country in January put in a bid to host tournament games.
South Korea will stage the first round games of Group B at Gocheok Sky Dome, the nation's first dome, which opened last November. The venue currently serves as the home of the Nexen Heroes in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO).
South Korea, the runners-up in 2009, have been paired with Taiwan and the Netherlands in Group B and are waiting for a winner from a qualification round in Brookyln, New York, where Brazil, Britain, Israel and Pakistan will compete for the remaining spot in September. Four teams will play in a round-robin format for five days, starting March 7, 2017. In the same period, Japan will host Cuba, China and Australia for their Group A contests.
The first round of the tournament will be played in four countries, with 16 teams divided into four groups. The top two performers in each group will advance to the next round. For the Asian region, the second round will be played at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, starting March 12.
South Korea is one of the 12 nations that qualified for the 2017 WBC based on their performance in the 2013 edition.
"We are very delighted to host the WBC for the first time in South Korea," said KBO Commissioner Koo Bon-neung. "We will try our best to make the event a baseball festival that everyone in the world can enjoy."
The KBO said officials from the World Baseball Classic, Inc. (WBCI) will visit South Korea on Tuesday and inspect Gocheok Sky Dome. During their two-day visit, they will also meet with the KBO officials to discuss the operations of the tournament here. The WBCI, founded by Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA), is the operator of the WBC.
"Alongside the KBO, we are likewise delighted to bring the World Baseball Classic to Seoul for the first time," Chris Park, a Korean-American MLB executive overseeing the WBC, said in a release. "The Korean baseball community has never been stronger and next year's showcase at the Gocheok Sky Dome serves and demonstrates the growth of our game throughout Asia."
In this file photo taken on July 16, 2016, South Korean baseball fans cheer at the Korea Baseball Organization All-Star Game at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul. (Yonhap)
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