World No. 1 Argentina and No. 10 New Zealand are the latest teams to qualify for next year’s 2025 WBSC Men’s Softball World Cup Finals in Prince Albert, Canada from July 8-13.
After a thrilling finish to Sunday’s Pool B match in Prince Albert, both teams secured their spots from Pool A along with the top two finalists, the Dominican Republic and Australia.
Following the conclusion of the Group B match, Canada was also confirmed as the host for the 2025 finals.
Argentina displayed their dominance and dominance throughout the Group B tournament, finishing with a perfect 5-0 win-loss record. Their run to the finals was highlighted by emphatic opening round wins against Israel, Canada, Hong Kong, China, Singapore and New Zealand, and a dramatic 6-5 win over New Zealand in the Group B final.
The world No. 1 rallied from a 4-1 deficit in the bottom of the fourth inning to tie the game again with three runs. The two teams exchanged runs until Argentina scored on a wild pitch to seal a third ticket to the 2025 finals.
Argentinian Ladislav Malarchuk, who was named Group B’s most outstanding player, was key with a .385 batting average and stellar defense.
New Zealand, who lost twice to Argentina, once in the opening round and the second in the final, secured a place in the 2025 finals with a strong comeback against Canada in the repechage. The world number 10 rallied from a 1-0 deficit to beat the hosts 4-1 before Ben Enoka’s three-run homer in the bottom of the sixth inning secured their place in next year’s final.
Meanwhile, Canada ranked third, followed by Singapore, Hong Kong, China and Israel at fourth, fifth and sixth respectively.
The top two finishers from Group C and the best third-place finishers from the three groups complete the eight-man group for the 2025 finals.
Group C is scheduled for September 17-21 in Oklahoma City, USA. Hosts and world number 7 USA will compete against 4th ranked Japan, 13th ranked Guatemala, 17th ranked Colombia, 18th ranked South Africa and 19th ranked Netherlands.
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