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Baseball was first contested at the 1990 Asian Games at Beijing, China as a demonstration sport. It has been a competitive sport since the 1994 Asian Games, Hiroshima, Japan.
The 2018 Asian Games will feature 10 teams, the most ever with a total of 233 athletes.
Venue and Schedule
All the baseball matches of Asian Games 2018 will be played from 21 August to 1 September 2018 at GBK Baseball Field and Rawamangun Baseball Field. Both of these stadiums are situated in Jakarta.
Events
Like all previous editions, this edition of Asian Games will also only feature Men’s Baseball.
A total of 10 teams will contest this time in Jakarta, out of which top six ranked teams along with the host and eighth-ranked Indonesia will advance to the main draw.
The remaining three teams will play against once each other and the winner will advance to the main draw.
Teams and Groups
The Round 1, which will act as a qualification to the main draw will be played between Thailand, Sri Lanka and Laos, the latter two teams being making their debut at Asian Games Baseball, along with Indonesia.
In Round 2, which will be the main draw, there are two groups, Group A and B.
Group A consists of Indonesia, South Korea, Hong Kong and Chinese Taipei.
Group B consists of Japan, China and Pakistan. Winner of the Round 1 will be the fourth team of Group B.
The top two teams from each group will play in the Super Round whereas the bottom two teams will play in the Consolation Round. The winners of Super Round will play the Gold Medal match.
Defending Champions
Men’s Baseball at Asian games is dominated by the trio of South Korea, Chinese Taipei and Japan. South Korea, who won gold at the 2014 Incheon Games, leads the way having won six gold medals They won gold in 1998, 2002, 2010 and 2014 Asian Games. Chinese Taipei and Japan have won one gold medal each.
China holds the unique distinction of being the fourth-placed team in all the Asian Games Baseball to date.
Favourites for 2018 Asian Games
World number two Japan along with defending champions and world number three South Korea will be the favourites to grab the gold at this Asian Games.
The Japanese team will be surely eyeing their second gold at the Asian Games having won Gold at 2017 Asian Baseball Championship and 2017 Asia Professional Baseball Championship.
On the other hand, South Korea will be looking to win the Asian Games gold for the third time in a row. It was the champion at the inaugural WBSC Premier 12, 2015 and also the runners-up in 2017 Asia Professional Baseball Championship.
