WBSC LAUNCHES FIRST-EVER SOFTBALL WORLD RANKINGS: JAPAN WOMEN’S NO. 1, NEW ZEALAND MEN’S NO. 1

* Women’s Softball Top 10 features Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania

* Men’s Softball Top 10 features Asia, Europe, North, Central and South America, and Oceania

The World Baseball Softball Confederation today launched the first-ever world rankings for softball, across both men’s and women’s disciplines. The newly implemented world ranking system tracks the performance of a country’s National Team in the Softball World Championships, including junior and top-tier levels, over a three-year period.

The WBSC Softball Competitions Commission carried out the assignment of extensively reviewing, developing and introducing an initial world ranking system. This task force will continue to study the best method for the ongoing expansion of the world rankings to include multi-sport events, regional championships, head-to-heads and other WBSC-recognised international competitions in which WBSC’s 141 Members worldwide participate.

“These new softball world rankings mark another major milestone in the history of our global sport,” said WBSC Softball Division President Dale McMann. “These rankings not only provide a benchmarking tool for nations to construct and evaluate their strategic/development plans, but they also give the players and fans a new and exciting way to express the pride of their country through sport.”

Japan and New Zealand rank No. 1 in the new WBSC Softball World Rankings in women’s and men’s, respectively.

Japan is now the top-ranked country across both women’s softball and men’s baseball — events that could potentially be re-introduced and generate massive nationwide interest and strengthen host nation, as well as worldwide, engagement for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Japan’s top ranking and success on the world stage comes as baseball/softball is the country’s top sport, in terms of youth participation, popularity, fan-attendance, broadcast/media coverage and existing infrastructure.

Japan defeated the United States, 4-1, to win the first ever Women’s Softball World Championship..

Women’s Softball World Rankings

Asia, the Americas, Europe and Oceania are all represented in the Women’s Top 10, highlighting a universal footprint of the sport.

The Japan National Softball Team programme has secured the No. 1 ranking (1560 pts), elevated by gold medals at both the 2012 and 2014 Women’s Softball World Championship.

Trailing leader Japan by just 60 points is the United States (1500 pts). The U.S. Women’s National Team captured the silver medal at the world championships in 2012 and 2014, while the U.S. is the current Junior Women’s world champion.

Australia (1300 pts), Oceania’s top representative, is the World No. 3.

Canada is the World No. 4, with 1280 points, while Chinese Taipei, with 1080 points, is No. 5.

Europe is showcased in the Top 10 by No. 7 Netherlands (880 pts) and No. 9 Italy (760 pts).

No. 17 Botswana (180 pts) is Africa’s top-ranked nation on the continent.

2015 WBSC World Men’s Softball Championship CAN vs NZ July 5 2015.
Photo Steve Hiscock

Men’s Softball World Rankings

Four continental regions are featured in the Men’s Top 10, including Oceania, the Americas (North, Central, and South Americas), Asia, and Europe.

New Zealand, “the Black Sox”, is the World No. 1, with 1340 points after winning the 2013 Men’s Softball World Championship and placing second at the 2014 juniors and 2015 men’s world championships.

Canada (1220 pts) captured the 2015 men’s world title and is ranked No. 2, followed by No. 3 Australia (1140 pts) and No. 4 Venezuela (1080 pts).

World No. 7 Czech Republic (720 pts) and No. 10 Great Britain (460 pts) place Europe firmly within the Top 10.

No. 16 South Africa (100 pts) is Africa’s top representative in the world rankings.

The top international softball competitions on the 2016 calendar are the Women’s World Championship in Surrey, Canada and the Junior Men’s World Championship in Midland, USA in July.

JAPAN, USA, CHINESE TAIPEI TOP NEW WBSC BASEBALL WORLD RANKINGS

The World Baseball Softball Confederation today revealed the latest standings in the Official WBSC Baseball World Rankings, which weigh a country’s entire National Team programme (from U-12 to Pro) in international competition.

The WBSC Baseball World Rankings reflect a 4-year cycle and a data set of more than 1,000 international contests dating back to 2012.

Ranked No. 1 since November 2014, Japan (5,154 pts.) remains the top-ranked baseball power, while the United States remains at No. 2 (5,091 pts.).

The U.S. has pulled within 63 ranking points of the top spot, having defended the country’s world titles at the U-12 Baseball World Cup and U-18 Baseball World Cup in 2015, while having placed second at the 2015 Pan-Am Games and flagship Premier12, which awards the most ranking points of any international competition.

Chinese Taipei has moved up a position from world No. 4 to No. 3, a historical high for the nation.

Korea, bolstered by winning the Premier12 last November, has jumped up four spots to tie its highest-ever ranking at No. 4 in the world. Korea climbed as high as No. 4 in 2009, following a gold medal performance at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and a second-place finish at the 2009 World Baseball Classic.

Mexico, who advanced to the semifinals of the Premier12, has moved up five spots to world No. 7, a historical high for Mexico.

Italy, now Europe’s top-ranked country, has advanced two positions to world No. 9. Italy’s breaking into the Top 10 equals the nation’s highest-ever ranking.

The Dominican Republic, who finished winless at the Premier12, has dropped six places to world No. 12, falling out of the Top 10.

Puerto Rico has also fallen out of the Top 10, dropping two spots to No. 11.

Oceania’s top nation Australia has moved up a spot to world No. 13.

No. 40 South Africa is Africa’s best-ranked representative.

Four nations are making their historic debuts in the WBSC Baseball World Rankings: No. 58 Singapore, No. 59 India, No. 66 Estonia and No. 68 Iraq.

Sweden made the biggest leap forward in the rankings, moving up 24 spots from No. 53 to No. 29.

The top international competitions on the 2016 calendar are the U-23 Baseball World Cup in Monterrey, Mexico in Oct./Nov., which will award 690 points to the nation that captures the U-23 world title, and the U-15 Baseball World Cup in Japan in Jul./Aug., which will award 460 points to the U-15 world champion.

FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup DRAWS REVEALED

The Official Draw for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup has taken place at the Home of FIFA, with the pick of the sections pairing Japan with Nigeria and France with USA.

Hosts Papua New Guinea, meanwhile, face a series of intriguing challenges against Brazil, Sweden and Korea DPR in Group A. They will contest the tournament’s opening match against Brazil on 13 November.

“The U-20 Women’s World Cup is a great event,” FIFA President Gianni Infantino said. “I’ve been to Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea and it was a great experience. I can tell you the weather will be beautiful. What will be even more beautiful is that Papua New Guinea will greet the world and the world will discover Papua New Guinea. I’m sure Papua New Guinea will excel and I’m sure the 16 teams will as well on the pitch.”

Full draw

Group A
Papua New Guinea
Brazil
Sweden
Korea DPR

Group B
Spain
Canada
Japan
Nigeria

Group C
France
USA
Ghana
New Zealand

Group D
Germany
Venezuela
Mexico
Korea Republic

Japan Looks to Rewrite History at World Team Table Tennis Championships Malaysia

Japan is looking to rewrite history at the Perfect 2016 World Team Table Tennis Championships in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, after sending both it’s men’s and women’s teams into the finals to meet China.

The last time the table tennis powerhouse had both its teams in the final showdown for the World Team Championships title, was back in 1971, where Japan met China in both the team gold medal matches. The women’s team won on home soil then in Nagoya, but the men’s suffered a bitter loss to China.

It was 39 years since the Japanese men’s team last made their way to the Final, they nearly missed their chance tonight in the action packed Malawati Stadium. Fortunately, Jun MIZUTANI managed to saved the day for his team from a fully fired-up English team in the semifinals.

Surprise semifinalist England who were only newly promoted to the Championships Divisions, shocked the world’s top teams en route to the semifinals to face off Japan. The trio of Paul DRINKHALL, Liam PITCHFORD and Samuel WALKER played their best matches against the third seeded Japanese team, setting the local crowd cheering for every point for the underdogs. Despite WALKER sensationally beating world number 20, Yuya OSHIMA, ruining his 22ndbirthday today, his team mate PITCHFORD lost four match points to the experienced MIZUTANI, losing 3-1 overall to end their dream run in the World Team Championships in Kuala Lumpur.

After his emotional victory, the seven-time Japanese national champion fired a warning to his Chinese opponents: “We have not been World Champions for 47 years, tomorrow is our time to write history, it is out time!”

Defending champion China snatched the other Final spot after pulling off a convincing victory over Korea Republic. Ranked first and third in the world, MA Long and XU Xin gave the Chinese team a comfortable 2-0 lead by beating Korea Republic’s JUNG Youngsik and LEE Sangsu respectively. But all eyes were on the third match between Grand Slam Champion ZHANG Jike and the 2013 Junior World Champion JANG Woojin.

In their previous encounter at the 2015 Asian Championships, the Korean youngster defeated the reigning Olympic Champion twice, once in the team’s event, and once in the single’s event. Today in Kuala Lumpur, ZHANG did not have a good start either, losing 9 points in a row to cost him the first game, but the experienced Olympic champion was able to find his form to win the next 3 games to seal the victory for his team, and move on to their 12thconsecutive men’s team final.

Mizutani celebrates after putting Japan into the World Team Championships final At Perfect 2016 World Team Table Tennis Championships, Kuala Lumpur, MAS

“I lost to JANG Woojin at the Asian Championships, but then I was not in the best shape” shared the 28-year-old, “Recently I have been training intensively, so today I was more prepared and ready.”

The Chinese women’s team headed by 2015 World Champion DING Ning, completed a clean swept against Chinese Taipei, winning 3-0 for all three individual matches. Chinese Taipei’s CHENG I-Ching, who has not dropped a single match prior to the match was able to push LI Xiaoxia, the reigning Olympic Champion to her limits. However, after losing 13-15 to LI in the second game, the 24-year-old CHENG lost her momentum and dropped the last game 2-11.

The Chinese will now meet long time rival Japan in the women’s team gold medal match tomorrow, 6 March at 14:30 (GMT+8). The archrivals have met five times on the World Team Championships Final stage, with China winning three out the five encounters.

Japan Looks to Topple Defending Champions at 2016 World Championships

Sending in their strongest ever line-up of players, Japan looks to upset defending Champions, China, at the Perfect 2016 World Team Table Tennis Championships that begins tomorrow, 28 February till 6 March 2016 at the Malawati Stadium in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Silver medalists at the last edition of the World Team Championships in Tokyo, Japan, and at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, the Japanese Women’s team was the closest to come to upsetting the Chinese team ever since Team Singapore successfully snatched the crown from the 19 time Champions in 2010 in Moscow.

Ai FUKUHARA who heads the Japanese team in Kuala Lumpur shared, “We have a young but very strong team here in Kuala Lumpur. We finished second on home soil in 2014, and this time round we will be aiming higher for the crown. It will not be an easy task, but we will put in our best efforts for that!”

Commenting on her loss at the Moscow World Championships in 2010, 2015 World Champion DING Ning stated at the press conference held earlier this afternoon ‘Losing the title in 2010 was a shock for us, but at the same time, it was an important lesson for me, and made me more prepared for difficult situations during competitions.”

“We not only have the World Championships this year, but also the Olympic Games in Rio later in the year. But what’s now more important for us is to perform well here to defend our title!” added the 25-year-old Chinese.

The Chinese Men’s Team will be looking to take their eighth consecutive title at the 54th edition of the World Championships in Kuala Lumpur. The last time the Chinese men were beaten at the World Team Championships, was back in 2000, when Sweden defeated them in an epic final, also here in Kuala Lumpur.

Team captain MA Long shared “The last time we played the world championships in Kuala Lumpur, we lost the title to the Swedish team, this time round, we will go all out to defend out title to make sure that history doesn’t repeat itself.”

Ai FUKUHARA of Japan at 2016 World Championships photo credit: ITTF MEDIA

The reigning world champion also called on Japan, Germany, Korea Republic and Portugal as the biggest opponents of the Chinese team on their way to their gold.

The world number one shared, “I think Japan will be our biggest threat, their team is very young and dynamic, and they are full of fighting spirit every time we meet, always out on full force to fight for their chance to win!”

The qualification stage of the Perfect 2016 World Team Table Tennis Championships will start tomorrow, 28 February, where all teams in the Championships Division will be fighting to qualify for the main draw.

Group A: China, Austria, Chinese Taipei, Greece, Czech Republic, Korea DPR
Group B: Germany, Sweden, France, Denmark, England, Malaysia
Group C: Japan, Portugal, Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Singapore
Group D: Korea Republic, Hong Kong, Russia, Croatia, Romania, Italy

2015 WBSC Premier12 delivers US$ 131 million in brand exposure, sponsorship value

The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) today announced that the inaugural 2015 WBSC Premier12 staged in Japan and Taiwan generated a cumulative potential broadcast reach of 253.7 million households and produced an estimated US$ 131 million in worldwide TV advertising value and brand exposure for tournament sponsors, WBSC and the sport of baseball.

The global broadcast and sponsorship performance of the 2015 WBSC Premier12 was measured by the independent sports marketing and research firm, SMG Insight.

In terms of overall media coverage, ratings and broadcast hours, the inaugural WBSC Premier12 was the premier international sports event on the 2015 calendar in host nations Japan and Taiwan.

The 2015 global championship, which brought together baseball’s top 12 men’s National Teams in the world last November, and won by No. 8 South Korea, registered 235,951 fans in attendance over 38 games.

A total of nearly US$ 4 million was awarded in prize money.

WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari welcomed the report on the broadcast and media coverage, brand exposure and digital consumption of the Premier12.

“The Premier12 was an overwhelming success that generated valuable exposure for our partners, our sport and the players themselves,” Fraccari said. “The reach, coverage and commercial power of the inaugural WBSC Premier12 further highlight the continued international appeal of baseball and how it could serve as an Olympic sport.”

Broadcast and Sponsorship Value

Broadcasters around the world aired 2,258 hours (1,464 hours or 65% live) of the 2015 WBSC Premier12 across 58 markets for an estimated US$ 131 million in brand exposure and advertising value for WBSC’s global championship partners and WBSC.

SMG Insight analysed the brand impact and exposure of the 2015 WBSC Premier12 official partners, which included Asahi Beer, Dandy House, GungHo, Hublot, Meiji, Nippon Express, Nissan, Play for Change, Recruit Holdings, Taipei 2017 and Yomiuri Shimbun.

Sponsorship and broadcast rights distribution for the 2015 Premier12 was overseen by WBSC global marketing partner, MP & Silva.

Ratings Highlights:

The first-ever WBSC Premier12 was the most watched international sports program of 2015 in host nations Japan (TV Asahi and TBS) and Taiwan (Videoland):
Japan vs. South Korea semifinal on 19 Nov. at the Tokyo Dome was the No. 1 international sports TV programme in Japan in 2015, with a rating share of 25.2%
Chinese Taipei vs. Puerto Rico Opening Round game on 15 Nov. was the most watched sports programme in Taiwan in 2015 (5.27% rating)
Male/Female Demographics

The new flagship event highlighted the sport’s connection and appeal to both male and females, as females represented 40% of the WBSC Premier12 global TV audience.

Press Coverage

Online media penetration of the inaugural Premier12 exceeded 30k news articles, according to media intelligence experts Meltwater.

Yahoo, one of the biggest web portals in the world, featured a dedicated 2015 WBSC Premier12 “live” tournament page in the sports sections of Yahoo Taiwan and Yahoo Japan, while South Korea’s most popular portal Naver also built a dedicated Premier12 page.

Global newswire giant Associated Press (AP) produced a preview and provided daily reports on the WBSC flagship baseball event, while Agence France-Presse (AFP) furnished news reports on the semifinals and finals.

The two biggest sports leagues in the world (in terms of annual attendance), Major League Baseball and Nippon Professional Baseball, featured 2015 WBSC Premier12 coverage on their websites, while the top sports leagues in South Korea (Korea Baseball Organization) and Taiwan (Chinese Professional Baseball League) also provided extensive coverage, connecting with large fan-bases.

Yomiuri Shimbun, an official sponsor of the WBSC Premier12, which has the widest circulation of any newspaper in the world, also promoted the new flagship event to their massive readership through advertising, in addition to providing comprehensive Premier12 tournament news coverage.

In host nation Japan, a staggering 4,004 articles on the 2015 Premier12 were printed in newspapers, which included several front/full page editorials.

Online Viewership and Engagement

Fans from 217 countries watched 264,822 hours of the 2015 WBSC Premier12 via the WBSC YouTube channel (youtube.com/wbsc), generating 1.27 million views and 112k comments.

Audiences in the U.S. logged in the most viewing hours, registering 22% of the total viewing time of the Premier12 on WBSC’s YouTube channel.

Chinese Taipei and Puerto Rico’s extra-inning, sellout thriller on 15 Nov. at Taichung Intercontinental Stadium generated the most live-stream comments at 25k.

In total, Premier12 live-streaming, highlights and instant replays surpassed more than 10 million video views across WBSC’s official Twitter, Facebook and YouTube accounts.

Social Media Buzz

The 2015 WBSC Premier12 produced a major buzz on Twitter, the official Premier12 social media partner, with the integration of a powerful suite of Twitter tools that included Twitter Amplify, Twitter Mirror, Twitter Polls, Periscope and SnappyTV.

2015 WBSC #Premier12 delivered US$ 131 million in brand exposure, sponsorship value: https://t.co/GIUqkxkz8s pic.twitter.com/t5a4gYHUIS

— WBSC ⚾🥎 (@WBSC) February 10, 2016

Twitter Highlights:
@wbsc attracted:
51.4 million impressions
157k retweets, for an average of 253 RTs per tweet
4.6 million video views
1.2 million Vine loops
1.3 million profile visits
Autographed Twitter Mirror (selfie) of Japan/Nippon-Ham Fighters star Sho Nakata (see here) was the most popular tweet, with 3,645 RTs/6,018 (at time of writing)
Official hashtag #Premier12 among top trends in host nation Japan and winner South Korea
Twitter’s partnership and integration was key not only as a first-source of information, but also as an effective method in helping deliver an exciting major sporting event atmosphere through such features as exclusive close-ups, player/team selfies, behind-the-scenes content and instant replays via Twitter Amplify.

Tokyo dome, photo credit
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dozodomo/

Facebook Highlights:

Facebook.com/wbsc generated:
36.4 million impressions
4.7 million video views
408k likes, comments and shares
Video of Chinese Taipei/CPBL Chinatrust Brothers Chih-Sheng Lin’s dramatic home run against Cuba was the most liked WBSC post, with 9,589 likes (see here)
Official WBSC Website:
Fans from 201 countries and territories visited http://www.wbsc.org a record 1.67 million times during the Premier12, the highest-ever daily traffic since the world governing body first launched its website in the 1990s.
Premier12 Coverage, Brand Exposure and Digital Consumption — Highlights Summary:
253.7 million potential household reach
2,258 dedicated broadcast hours in 58 markets
US$ 131 million in sponsorship value and brand exposure
Males 60%, Females 40% of TV audience
No. 1 international sports TV content in 2015 in host nations Japan and Taiwan
Nearly US$ 4 million in prize money
235,951 in ticketing/attendance
30k online news articles produced
87 million impressions generated via WBSC on Twitter and Facebook
10 million video views of live-stream and highlights across WBSC online platforms
264,822 hours viewed via the WBSC YouTube channel
Record 1.67 million visits to wbsc.org
408k likes, comments and shares at facebook.com/wbsc

Japan Finish Top Of Medal Standings At Asia Olympic Qualifying Competition For Shooting…

The competition awarded its last medals and quotas today in the 50m Rifle 3 Positions Men and Skeet Men events. Japan claimed the top of the medal standings with 5 total Golds, also pocketing 5 Olympic quota places for Rio 2016.

The Asia Olympic Qualifying Competition for Shooting awarded its last medals and quotas today, in the 50m Rifle 3 Positions Men and Skeet Men event.

At the end of the competition, Japan claimed the top of the medal standings with 5 Gold medals and 2 Bronzes. 2nd, with 3 Gold medals, 2 Silvers and 5 Bronzes, finished the Republic of Korea, followed by the United Arab Emirates, whose 2 Golds and 1 Bronze arrived entirely from the Shotgun events.

35 Olympic quota places have also been awarded, and once again Japan earned the highest number with 5, followed by South Korea, India and by the Independent Shooting Participant with 4.

Japan Finish Top Of The Medal Standings At Asia Olympic Qualifying Competition For Shooting…

The Islamic Republic of Iran is the only team that collected 3 quotas, while five different countries collected 2: the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Thailand, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Qatar.

Malaysia, Chinese Tapei, Kazakhstan, the People’s Republic of China and Saudi Arabia got 1 each.

The 2016 season will continue with the first ISSF World Cup stage in Rifle/Pistol events, scheduled in Bangkok (THA) from March 1st to March 9th.

Players Announced for the GAC Group 2015 World Tour Grand Finals

The qualified players for the lucrative GAC Group 2015 World Tour Grand Finals have been announced after a record-breaking end to the regular World Tour season, which consisted of 22 stops.

The final World Tour event of 2015 was played out in Sweden on the weekend, where the world’s best table tennis players fought it out for the final positions on the standing list at the GAC Group 2015 World Tour Grand Finals, which will take place on 10-13 December 2015 in Lisbon, Portugal.

Only 16 men and 16 women were able to secure their golden ticket to Lisbon, as well as eight men’s and women’s doubles pairs, and eight men’s and women’s under 21 players.

World Champion and World number one MA Long (CHN) topped the Race to Lisbon standings after another very consistent year on the tour winning two Super Series titles. Japan’s Ai FUKUHARA finished number one on the women’s charts after winning three World Tour titles in 2015.

MA, who won both the 2015 World Championships and the recent 2015 Men’s World Cup stated “Happy to have qualified after missing out last year, and I look forward to capping off a dream year with another big title!”

The pair who battled it out for gold at the end of season Swedish Open men’s singles final, XU Xin (CHN) and FAN Zhendong (CHN) were the next two on the men’s list, just ahead of JUNG Youngsik (KOR) and Maharu YOSHIMURA (JPN) who both had a breakthrough season on the GAC Group 2015 World Tour.

China Open Champion ZHU Yuling (CHN) and 15 year old Japanese sensation Mima ITO followed FUKUHARA on the women’s charts and will be heading to Lisbon looking for World Tour Grand Final glory.

The World’s best will fight for glory at the year ending ITTF World Tour Grand Finals in Lisbon!

Despite having the second half of her reason ruined by injury and sickness, World Champion DING Ning (CHN) did enough to book her place in Lisbon, as did World number one and World Cup Champion LIU Shiwen (CHN).

The local Portuguese fans will have a player in every event to cheer for in Lisbon. They will be led by World number seven Marcos FREITAS, who had a strong year on the tour to finish seventh on the Race to Lisbon standings and will be looking for glory in front of his home fans.

The US$3,000,000 GAC Group 2015 ITTF World Tour, consisted of 22 events split into three tiers based on prize money and the quality of the event: Super Series (six events), Major Series (five events) and Challenge Series (11 events).

From these events, players earned Race to Lisbon points to qualify for the prestigious GAC Group 2015 World Tour Grand Finals, will be held at the Pavilhão Multiusos De Odivelas Lisbon, Portugal on 10-13 December 2015. To qualify, players had to play in a minimum of five events.

MONDAY QUARTERFINALS SET FOR WBSC PREMIER12 GLOBAL BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

The quarterfinals schedule of the inaugural WBSC Premier12 has been determined, following an electric Opening Round (Games 1-30) that has generated record TV ratings in the host nation and concluded Sunday night with world No. 1 Japan and No. 7 Canada having gone undefeated to win their respective groups, while four of the Top 12 competing nations have been eliminated.

All four quarterfinals contests will take place on Monday in Taoyuan and Taichung (all times local):
Gm. 31: CAN (A1) vs MEX (B4) in Taichung at 12:30p
Gm. 32: CUB (A2) vs KOR (B3) in Taichung at 18:30
Gm. 33: USA (B2) vs NED (A3) in Taoyuan at 12:30p
Gm. 34: JPN (B1) vs PUR (A4) in Taoyuan at 18:30

The winner of Game 31 will face the winner of Game 33, while the winner of Game 32 will meet the winner of Game 34 in the semifinals.

Following the quarterfinals, the next phase of this new flagship global tournament will move to Japan’s Tokyo Dome, where the semifinals, bronze medal match and the Premier12 global championship finale (Games 35-38) will take place from 19-21 November.

NB: Dates for the semifinals (Games 35 on the 19th and 36 on the 20th) are subject to being changed for one another following the outcome of the quarterfinals.

Opening Round – Final Standings

Pos.Group A Wins Losses
1 Canada 5 0
2 Cuba 3 2
3 Netherlands 3 2
4 Puerto Rico 2 3
5 Chinese Taipei 2 3
6 Italy 0 5

Pos.Group B Win Losses
1 Japan 5 0
2 United States 3 2
3 S. Korea 3 2
4 Mexico 2 3
5 Venezuela 2 3
6 Dominican Rep. 0 5

All 38 games of the 2015 WBSC Premier12 are being live-streamed and free-to-view on the WBSC YouTube channel for those territories not covered by WBSC’s global broadcast partners.

Special real-time game coverage, instant replays via SnappyTV and post-game features are also being presented in collaboration with Twitter, the Official Social Media Partner of the WBSC Premier12.

WBSC PREMIER12™ BROADCAST RIGHTS AWARDED AROUND THE WORLD

The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) today announced that broadcast rights have been awarded in territories across the world for the first-ever WBSC Premier12™ global baseball championship, which will be staged from 8-21 November in Japan and Taiwan and will feature the National Teams of the Top 12 countries in the world.

In Europe, cable giant Fox Sports has been awarded the rights to broadcast the new international baseball flagship tournament in Cyprus, Greece, Israel, Italy, Malta, Netherlands and Turkey.

NOS, the Dutch free-to-air public broadcaster, has also been awarded Premier12 broadcast rights in the Netherlands, the No. 5 country in the WBSC Baseball World Rankings, while Eleven Sports Network has obtained broadcast rights across Belgium and Poland, as well as Singapore and Malaysia in Asia.

WBSC Premier12 broadcast distribution across Asia also includes beIN Sports (Indonesia and the Philippines), LeTV and PPTV (China), Macau Cable, Sky Net (Myanmar), Solar (Philippines), i-Cable (Hong Kong) and Vietnam Digital Television (VTC).

Japanese satellite TV network J-Sports has also acquired broadcast rights for the WBSC Premier12, adding to the already announced agreements with TV Asahi and the Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) in Japan.

Camerabay.tv has obtained online broadcast rights in Taiwan, which complements host broadcaster Videoland’s television rights in the nation. Videoland will be producing 33 (of the 38) games of the 2015 WBSC Premier12 within the span of a week, marking the most intense operation in history for the premier sports network in Taiwan.

It was already announced that SBS in South Korea has been awarded the exclusive broadcast rights in that nation for Premier12.

Across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Dubai-based OSN added the WBSC Premier12 to its broadcast portfolio.

In Oceania, global sports network beIN Sports has been awarded Premier12 broadcast rights in Australia.

In the Americas, Rogers’ Sportsnet (Canada) and the Cuban Institute of Radio and Television (ICRT) have been awarded exclusive rights in their respective territories.

“WBSC is proud to partner with some of the world’s premier broadcasters to showcase this new crown jewel event and deliver all the excitement of Premier12 to potentially hundreds of millions of households and mobile users,” said WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari. “These partnerships not only highlight the global appeal of this new WBSC flagship baseball product, but also demonstrate baseball’s expanding worldwide position in an extremely competitive environment.”

WBSC Premier12 Live-Streaming on Youtube

All 38 games of the 2015 WBSC Premier12 will be live-streamed and free-to-view on the WBSC YouTube channel for those territories not covered by WBSC’s broadcast partners. Following each game, highlights and video-on-demand will be available to worldwide audiences via WBSC’s YouTube channel.

Glasgow World Championships Set A New Benchmark For Artistic Gymnastics Competition

For the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG), the 2015 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Glasgow have set a new benchmark for organisers of future Artistic Gymnastics competitions.

When the FIG allocated the major World Championships of the Olympic cycle to British Gymnastics and the city of Glasgow four years ago, it knew its championships were in good hands. But it could not have imagined how far the organising committee would go in its innovation and originality in presenting the event and its stars, the gymnasts.

“These World Championships have been wonderful in every aspect,” enthused Professor Bruno Grandi, President of the FIG, during a press conference before the final day of competition Sunday. “I would like to thank the city, because Gymnastics, this magnificent sport, needs to try to continue to organise competitions in this manner.”

The Glasgow World Championships featured several innovative features designed to engage the crowd while emphasizing the gymnasts’ craft. The use of a giant 20 x 6 meter screen and stage to present gymnasts as they entered the arena before a backdrop of smoke and flames, as well as the placement of the judges above and away from the field of play were among the innovations that contributed to the beauty of the spectacle.

“By presenting them this way, the gymnasts became actors in a grand production,” Grandi said. “It was even better than the Olympic Games, and for this we owe a lot to the Glasgow 2015 Organising Committee. With these World Championships, we have become even more professional in our way of doing things.”

“As an Olympic qualifying event, we wanted this World Championships to be run to the highest of standards so the athletes could feel that they were taking center stage while achieving their goals,” said British Gymnastics CEO Jane Allen. The success of the World Championships owed much to the vision of Colin Hartley, Championships Director of the Glasgow 2015 Worlds, as well as Competition Director Matthew Greenwood.

On a sporting level, the World Championships will be remembered for numerous reasons: In addition to being the first qualifying event for the 2016 Rio Games (the top eight men’s and women’s teams as well as event finalist medallists whose teams do not qualify for the Olympics all to the Games) the Glasgow Worlds have been remarkable for the number of history-making performances.

The field of play at the SSE Hydro

In Glasgow, Japan’s Kohei Uchimura and American Simone Biles won their sixth and third consecutive World All-around titles, respectively, establishing new records for winning streaks in both Men’s and Women’s Gymnastics. In becoming the first Cuban gymnast to win a medal in the individual All-around competition, Manrique Larduet (silver) carved out his own slice of history, while Max Whitlock (gold on Pommel Horse) also wrote a new chapter for Great Britain as its first-ever World champion in Men’s Gymnastics.

Additionally, the women’s Uneven Bars final, which produced gold medallists Fan Yilin (CHN), Daria Spiridonova (RUS), Viktoria Komova (RUS) and Madison Kocian (RUS), will rest in the annals of gymnastics as one of the most unanticipated results ever produced in world competition.

Liu Shiwen Equals History at 2015 ITTF Women’s World Cup

LIU Shiwen has became the equal most successful player in ITTF Women’s World Cup history by winning her fourth title in as many attempts at the 2015 ITTF Women’s World Cup, which concluded today 1 November in Sendai, Japan.

The 24 year old added the 2015 title to those that she claimed in 2009, 2012 and 2013, to be equal with the legendary ZHANG Yining with four ITTF World Cup crowns.

The world number two reached this historic feat by defeating the great Japanese hope Kasumi ISHIKAWA 14-12,11-2,11-9,11-2 in the final to silence the capacity crowd at the Xebio Arena.

After lifting the famous cup, Liu stated: “At the vital times, I really had to make sure that I was positive; certainly it is a greater honour to be named alongside ZHANG Yining winning four ITTF Women’s World Cup titles. This victory will hopefully boost my chances of being selected in the Chinese Olympic team for Rio 2016.”

ISHIKAWA was happy with her silver medal, but was disappointed she could not win a dream gold in front of her home crowd: “I led 10-9 in the first game. I had a chance, I missed the chance but Liu Shiwen is a superb player, overall I have to be pleased with my efforts in this tournament.”

The third place play off was between two women that differed in age by 21 years, but both played the tournaments of their lives here in Sendai.

21 year Petrissa SOLJA (GER), who beat world number six FENG Tianwei (SIN) and world number four Ai FUKUHARA (JPN) before her remarkable run, was finally stopped by the eventual winner, LIU Shiwen in the semi final.

42 year old LI Jiao (NED) proved that she was not slowing down with age, as she caused the biggest upset of 2015 by beating the number two seed and Asian champion ZHU Yuling (CHN) in the quarter finals before coming up short against ISHIKAWA in the final four showdown.

Liu Shiwen claims 4th gold at 2015 ITTF Women’s World Cup to be named alongside legends

SOLJA proved to be too strong in the bronze medal decider, winning 7-11, 6-11, 11-2, 11-8, 12-10, 11-8 against the tiring LI to become the first ever German to win an ITTF Women’s World Cup bronze medal.

The world’s best table tennis players now head to GAC Group 2015 World Tour Swedish Open which begins on 11 December. This is the final chance for players to collect priceless Race to Lisbon points to qualify for the prestigious GAC Group 2015 World Tour Grand Finals to be held in Lisbon, Portugal on 10-13 December 2015.