For the first time ever, Thunder Bay will host the Women’s Baseball World Cup Group A tournament, presented by the Thunder Bay International Baseball Association (TBIBA). Kicking off with Hong Kong—China versus Korea at 11:30 am on August 8th, 2023 at Baseball Central (the host Canadians first take to the field the same evening against Mexico), the five-day tournament will see 15 games played—primarily at Port Arthur Stadium, one of the oldest and most iconic sporting facilities in Thunder Bay.
Women’s Baseball World Cups are multi-stage events, with the first stage containing 12 nations, playing in two different host cities, where the top six teams advance to the Women’s Baseball World Cup final stage, held the following year. While Group B will compete in Miyoshi City, Japan, Group A will come to Thunder Bay. The city will welcome the national teams from Canada, the United States, Mexico, Hong Kong—China, Korea, and Australia.
Each group’s top-two finishers will qualify to compete in the final stage in 2024, also to be hosted in Thunder Bay. These four teams plus two Wild Card Teams will compete for the title of World Cup champions, currently held by team Japan, who won it at the last WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup in 2018.
This will be the first, sanctioned International baseball competition the Women’s National Team has competed in since the 2019 WBSC Americas Women’s Baseball World Cup qualifier. Canada currently ranks third in the latest WBSC world rankings.
The National Team will come to Thunder Bay on August 4 to play a pair of exhibition games against the Thunder Bay Lakers on the 5th and 6th at Baseball Central.
More information can be found here on the WBSC’s IX Women’s Baseball World Cup 2023—Group A page.
