World Baseball Classic Championship: History made as Pakistan book place in qualifiers

National team’s fifth-place finish in Asian event earned them the spot

KARACHI: The Pakistan baseball team booked its spot for the 2017 World Baseball Classic Championship qualification rounds, which starts from Tuesday, for the first time in their history after finishing fifth in the Asian Baseball Championship in Taiwan.

Pakistan, who were ranked sixth in Asia before the tournament, participated in the Asian Baseball Championship along with Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, China and Indonesia, and needed to finish among the top five nations from Asia to secure their berth in the qualifiers.

After losing four of their matches against Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and China, Pakistan managed to defeat Indonesia 7-1 to finish fifth in the six-nation tournament — Indonesia lost all five fixtures to finish sixth.

“This is the first time Pakistan has qualified for one of the top baseball competitions and now we will get a chance to play with the top teams,” Pakistan Federation Baseball (PFB) Secretary Syed Khawar Shah told The Express Tribune. “We are glad that our team performed well and qualified for the prestigious event.”

Ranked 21st in the world, Pakistan will now vie for a place in the elite competition’s main round after being placed in the fourth group of the qualifiers along with Brazil (ranked 14th), Great Britain (ranked 22nd) and Israel (ranked 19th).

The matches will take place in New York City from September 22-25 next year and only one team from each group would be able to progress to the main event.

“We will have to finish top in our group to qualify for the 2017 World Baseball Classic Championship,” said Shah. “These players have taken the team to the qualifiers and now it is our responsibility to organise maximum international tours to increase their exposure before the mega event.”

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Jawad Khan won the award for the best defender at the Asian Baseball Championship and Shah praised him for his performance against the top sides in Asia.

It is also worth mentioning that Pakistan have now amassed enough points to be ranked 20th in the world, thereby becoming eligible to participate in the 2016 World Baseball Cup. The formal announcement of the updated rankings would be made when the International Baseball Federation revises them in December. 

Published in The Express Tribune, September 22^nd,   2015.

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