The World Baseball Classic (WBC) will expand from 16 to 28 countries with the addition of a new qualifying round for the 2013 international competition, organizers said on Wednesday.
The new round of qualifying for the tournament, won by Japan both times it has been staged, will feature 16 teams divided into four pools of four teams and include the four teams from the 2009 tournament that did not win a game.
The countries invited to the qualifying round are Brazil, Canada, Taiwan, Colombia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Britain, Israel, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Panama, Philippines, South Africa, Spain and Thailand.
Already qualified based on their 2009 results are Australia, China, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and the US.
Japan beat South Korea 5-3 in 10 innings to retain the crown in 2009 in Los Angeles after capturing the inaugural WBC title in 2006 by defeating Cuba 10-6 in San Diego.
Qualifying games will take place next year and the four pools will operate under a double-elimination format. Each pool winner will advance to the WBC tournament, scheduled for March 2013. The event, featuring the top players from each country, will be held every four years after that.
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