The Asian baseball championship, which doubles as a qualifier for the World Cup this fall, will be held for four days this May in Miyazaki Prefecture, officials of the Japan baseball governing body said Monday.
The May 19-22 tournament to be held at Miyazaki Prefectural Park will feature six teams -- Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, China, the Philippines and Thailand -- comprised of amateur players only.
The event, which will be conducted in a three-team league format with only the four teams that advance to the semifinals of the round-robin booking their spots for World Cup starting Sept. 3 in the Netherlands.