Japan win XXXI BFA Asian Baseball Championship, qualify for WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup 2026 with runner up Chinese Taipei and third place Korea

World No. 1 Japan dominated the final against No. 2 Chinese Taipei, 11-0, to win the XXXI BFA Asian Championship. It's their second consecutive title, marking their 21st overall success.

Chinese Taipei starter Sheng-En Lin could get only one out, and his reliever Mu-Heng Chen didn't get out of the second. Designated hitter Toyo Kumada, shortstop Manami Soeda, left fielder Keisho Amiya and centre fielder Ryosuke Aizawa all had a two-hit game. Aizawa had three RBIs, and Amiya had two.

Working with a 7-0 lead after two innings, Samurai Japan starter Kazuki Kondo cruised through six innings. He earned the win, allowing six hits and striking out nine. Yoshiki Fuchigami and Shuichiro Kayo combined for three perfect innings and took the game to the end.

"This is a victory that we all won together," commented manager Tomoyasu Kawaguchi, including the players who prepared on the bench and the many staff members who helped us when we were in Japan. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all the players who worked so hard."

The Baseball Federation of Asia awarded the first three finishers the three continental spots for the WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup 2026. No. 4 Korea defeated the hosts China in the bronze-medal game, 4-3.

Korea scored the go-ahead runs in the bottom of the fourth. Pinch hitter Jongseong Im and Seojin Oh took advantage of a defensive error with back-to-back RBI singles off starter Xudi Suo. Jaehun Yang came out of the bullpen to pitch 4.2 innings for the win.

The Final Standings

1. Japan
2. Chinese Taipei
3. Korea
4. China
5. Palestine
6. Philippines
7. Hong Kong-China
8. Pakistan

China hosted the XXXI BFA Asian Baseball Championship for the first time since 1991. A total of 4,400 spectators attended the final and the bronze-medal game at Pingtang County Stadium, Fuzhou.

"I will do my best to make baseball popular in China, and I hope to see China's Baseball World Ranking climb to the top five in the world in the future," said BFA President Jefferey Koo Jr. during the Opening Ceremony.

Boxscores. play by play and statistics are on WBSC Asia website.

Nicaragua will host the VI WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup from November 6 to 15, 2026. The WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup is an evolution of the U-21 Baseball World Cup, hosted by the Chinese Taipei Baseball Association (CTBA) in 2014 in Taichung.

The Local Organising Committee has proposed three venues - Soberanía National Stadium in Managua, the brand-new Roberto Clemente Stadium in Masaya, and Rigoberto López Pérez Stadium in León - to host the tournament. The venues will be confirmed at a later stage.

Three of the 12 participating teams are already confirmed. World No. 16 Nicaragua have earned an automatic berth as host nation, while No. 17 Great Britain and No. 15 Czechia secured Europe’s two tickets by finishing first and second, respectively, at the European Championship held in Czechia this past August.

Ten teams representing countries or territories from the Caribbean, Central and North America will compete for three U-23 Baseball World Cup spots through October 4 in La Chorrera, Panama. A fourth team from the Americas will advance to the U-23 Baseball World Cup 2026 through the Southern American Qualifier, to be played in Peru from October 20 to 25.

Africa and Oceania will qualify one National Team each, completing the 12-team field.