After many years of hard work, Tainan City finally won the hosting rights for seven consecutive editions of the WBSC U12 Baseball World Cup (from 2015 to 2027). The V WBSC U12 Baseball World Championship will be held between July 26 and August 4, 2019, at Tainan Asia-Pacific International Baseball Stadiums and Training Centers, and Shanhua Baseball Field. Mayor Huang Wei-che, Chinese Taipei Baseball Association Secretary-general Lin Zong-cheng, Ministry of the Interior Political Deputy Minister Chen Zong-yan, Bureau of Education Director-general Cheng Hsin-hui, elected representatives of various levels, and the Promotional Ambassador of this edition – Pokemon all attended the promotional press conference held at Tainan Chimei Museum on March 9 and announced the beginning of the promotional campaign for the event.
Mayor Huang pointed out that looking back at the past editions, whether it was hosted in Tainan or Taipei, they all demonstrated that Taiwan is a baseball country and baseball is our national sport. Thanks to the efforts of everyone involved, the last edition (2017) had the highest viewership ratings worldwide - reaching five million viewers. This high rating proved that Taiwan has a very strong baseball foundation and high volume of baseball players and fans, and thus Tainan was awarded the hosting rights of the following four editions of the games (2021 - 2027) by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC). Tainan City government put in a lot of effort in the preparation and planning of the V WBSC U12 Baseball World Championship. They invited a very popular character, Pikachu, to serve as promotional ambassador, and also took extra care to ensure that the players can have better competition venues and environments. Huang further stressed that the entire competition will be held at the newly completed Tainan Asia-Pacific Baseball Stadiums & Training Centers. At the moment the construction progress is ahead of schedule and the venue will be ready to host the games at the end of July.
Huang stressed that as the Mayor of the hosting city, he will work very hard to make sure everyone will have a wonderful experience during the championship. He aims to attract more audiences to the competition venues and let international players and visitors leave with a great impression of Tainan City. The ultimate goal is to make Tainan a permanent hosting city of U12 Baseball World Championships after these four editions.
Finally, the Mayor invited baseball fans and all to come and cheer on the young Taiwanese players and Chinese Taipei team on July 26, and hopefully they can win the championship this year. He also invited everyone to come and cheer on young players from other countries as well.
Chinese Taipei Baseball Association Secretary-general Lin remarked that Tainan City government has been very dedicated to planning the championship and their efforts have been recognized by WBSC. This is why Tainan was awarded the hosting rights for seven consecutive editions, which is unprecedented in the history of the World Baseball Softball Confederation.
Ministry of the Interior Political Deputy Minister Chen said that watching this championship, which is held every two years, would be a great activity for families during summer vacation. During the last two editions held in Tainan, the stadiums were nearly full at every game, showing that this event not only attracts baseball fans from all over Taiwan to Tainan, but also stimulates local tourism. In addition to a new venue, this year’s championship has a new promotional ambassador – Pikachu. The city expects to welcome Pikachu fans to Tainan as well, and see a boom in Tainan's baseball and tourism industries.
The Department of Sports stated that the 2019 World Cup is the third edition of U12 Baseball World Championship games hosted by Tainan City. The city government began relative planning efforts last July to ensure that it would be even more spectacular that the past editions, and will attract more visitors to Tainan to participate in the grand event. This year is the first time they invited Pokemon as the promotional ambassador. To create a festive atmosphere, wooden figures of the character will be placed at famous Tainan tourist spots for the public to take pictures with. Tainan City invites everyone in Taiwan to come participate in this grand baseball festival this summer and experience the passion and joy of baseball in Tainan!