Tokyo Olympics final baseball qualifier to be staged in Taiwan in June

Taipei, Dec. 17 (CNA) The final qualifier for the baseball tournament of the postponed Tokyo Olympic Games is scheduled to kick off on June 16 in central Taiwan's Taichung City, where Taiwan's national squad will compete with five other teams for the last ticket to the event, the nation's baseball authorities said Thursday.
The Chinese Taipei Baseball Association (CTBA) made the announcement after it received an official notice from the World Baseball and Softball Confederation (WBSC) earlier in the day.
The event to be held from June 16 through June 20 at Taichung and Yunlin County's Douliu stadiums will feature the home team, as well as Australia, China, the Netherlands and the second and third place winners from the Americas tournament, which is scheduled to be held in early June, according to the CTBA.
Only the top finisher of the tourney in Taiwan will advance to the baseball event in Tokyo.
Japan, Israel, Mexico and South Korea have already qualified for Tokyo games.
The qualifier was originally set to be held in March before it was postponed till April and now to June due to the COVID-19 pandemic.