The inaugural 21U Baseball World Cup in Taichung, Taiwan (R.O.C) starts on Friday, November 7 and last through Sunday, November 16, 2014. After Panama dropped out 11 teams are participating in the first edition of the event organized by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF). It is going to be the last tournament before the Men’s Baseball Ranking will determine the Top 12 teams, which will be qualified for the new Premier 12 tournament next year.

The heavy favorite going into the 21U Baseball World Cup will be Japan, which is bringing several professional players to Taichung. Asian rivals Chinese Taipei and Korea, as well as Venezuela from South America also would like to claim the trophy in the absence of the United States, Dominican Republic, Cuba and Canada. European Baseball will be represented by the Netherlands, Italy and the Czech Republic. All three will be underdogs, but hope for one or two surprises along the way.

Pool A: Chinese Taipei, Korea, Italy, Czech Republic, New Zealand, Mexico

Chinese Taipei, Korea, Italy, Czech Republic, New Zealand, Mexico Pool B: Australia, Japan, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Netherlands

The top three of each pool advance to the second round “Super Round Robin” with the top two remain standing for the Gold Medal Game. Similar to last year’s 18U Baseball World Cup in Taichung, Intercontinental Stadium, Taichung Stadium and Dou-Liou will be used as venues during the event.

As usual live play by play through CBS Gametracker is available at the IBAF website. A live stream is offered through www.internetv.tv.