Manager Li Wei to rely on defence for China's debut in WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup 2024

Hosts China announced their 24-player roster for the WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup 2024, which will take place at the Shaoxing Baseball and Softball Sports Culture Center, with what manager Wei Li says is a more youthful side compared to the team he led to an historic win against Japan at the 2023 Asian Games.

Seven players on the WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup roster helped China to fourth place in the Asian Games, which was also staged at the Shaoxing Baseball and Softball Sports Culture Center; pitchers Yi Jian, Huadan Cairang, Wang Xiang, and Suo Xudi, catcher Wang Shuai, middle infielder Zhang Wentao and left fielder Li Yuyang.

"This is obviously a younger team than the one we had in the Asian Games," Li told the WBSC.

PITCHERS (10) Shutong Ding, Huachen Fu, Cairang Huadan, Yujun Lin, Xudi Suo, Xiang Wang, Lixuan Yang, Jian Yi, Wei Zhao, Jie Zhou
CATCHERS (3) Hangang Hou, Shuai Wang, Yi Zhou
INFIELDERS (7) Tianyuan Hu, Yuyang Li, Qirui Wu, Wenbin Xing, Aiqi Zhang, Mingxin Zhang, Wentao Zhang,
OUTFIELDERS (4) Keyu Lin, Yupei Song, Qinyang Zhang, Xudong Zhu

Li, who managed China in the WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup 2019 and BFA Asian Baseball Championship 2019, has seen some of the younger player develop and emphasized the importance of playing solid defence.

"I told my fielders to play their best defence, to cut down the numbers of errors committed as much as possible. Solid defence will keep us in the games."

China will make their debut in the WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup after an intense preparation.

"We opened camp about a month ago, following the completion of the Chinese Baseball League tournament," Li said. "And we also went to Pingtan to play in the Cross-Strait tournament to get more game action.

"This will be a great opportunity for our players to experience the playing style of teams from the world, especially the teams from the Americas,” added Li. "We didn’t get that many opportunities to play internationally after the pandemic, so this World Cup is a significant opportunity for us. Let’s win as many games as we can."

Li's staff will include pitching coach Jian Zhang and assistant coaches Wei Wang and Guojun Han.

World No. 24 China will compete in Group A and face No. 1 Japan, No. 10 Puerto Rico, No. 11 Colombia, No. 15 Australia, and No. 18 Great Britain.

Group B will include No. 3 Chinese Taipei, No. 5 Venezuela, No. 6 Korea, No. 7 Netherlands, No. 17 Nicaragua and No. 31 South Africa.