Hangzhou, China, April 9, 2023: The Shaoxing Baseball Softball Sports Culture Center, the baseball/softball venue for the 19th Asian Games, will host an historic first WBSC baseball event in the country, the World Baseball Softball Confederation announced on April 6.
The Chinese Baseball Association earned the hosting rights for the fifth WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup in 2024, the first WBSC baseball event to be hosted in Mainland China.
The competition venue will be the Shaoxing Baseball Softball Sports Culture Center, China's largest and highest standard baseball facility and host of the baseball and softball tournaments in the 19th Asian Games Hangzhou 2022.
The complex is located in the north of Shaoxing City. The baseball area includes a main stadium, a second field, a training centre and a fitness centre.
The main stadium can seat 5,000 people and add 5,000 temporary seats. The second field has 1,500 seats and can add 1,000 temporary seats.
The training centre includes a five-star hotel managed by Shoulv Nanyuan Hotel Group equipped with 275 rooms, 2,000 dining seats, a 900-sq m banquet hall, theme restaurants and conference rooms.
The Shaoxing Municipal Bureau of Sports and the Shaoxing Municipal Bureau of Education launched in April 2022 the plan Let Baseball and Softball into schools, which took baseball/softball to 30 primary and secondary schools.
The U-23 Baseball World Cup is a 12-team event with the continental breakdown as follows: Africa (1), Americas (4), Asia (3), Europe (2), Oceania (1). Wild Card/Host Country (1). World No. 1 Japan is the defending U-23 World Champion.