Home » Japan sweep Pool B of World Baseball Classic, advance to quarterfinals

Japan sweep Pool B of World Baseball Classic, advance to quarterfinals

Japan dominated Pool B in the group stage of the 2023 World Baseball Classic to advance to the knockout rounds.

The two-time World Baseball Classic champions started the rampage with an 8-1 routing of China on 10 March at the Tokyo Dome. They followed this up the following day with a 13-4 beating of another east Asian neighbor in South Korea.

In the following day, Japan then defeated the Czech Republic, 10-2. They closed out the stage by winning against Australia, 7-1.

The quartefinal round begins on 15 March with Cuba facing Australia. Japan would be going up against Pool A runner up Italy at Tokyo Dome the next day.

They are the only Asian team left in the competition as the others did not fare as well.

South Korea finished third on Pool B with two wins and two losses. Their victories came courtesy of the Czech Republic (7-3) and China (22-2, 5 innings). The Koreans’ final placing qualified them to the 2026 edition of the World Baseball Classic.

China concluded their campaign without a single victory.

Over on Pool A, Chinese Taipei got the short end of the stick in their tiebreaker to end up at last place. They won against Italy and the Netherlands, but lost to Panama and Cuba.

Pool C and Pool D games are currently ongoing and are being held at the Chase Field in Arizona, USA and the LoadDepot Park in Florida, USA, respectively.