The Netherlands will face WBSC Premier12 2024 silver medallists, Olympic champions and World Baseball Classic winners Samurai Japan on March 5th and 6th in Osaka next year. The RAXUS Samurai Japan Series 2025 will be played at the Kyocera Dome.
For Team Kingdom of the Netherlands, who finished ninth in the WBSC Premier12 2024 presented by RAXUS, these two games form an excellent opportunity to measure themselves with the world No. 1 in international baseball and will be an important step in the team’s preparation for the European Championship, which will be held in the Netherlands in September 2025, as well as the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
General Manager Peter Kwakernaak is very happy to have been invited by Nippon Professional Baseball Organization (NPB): “We are honoured to receive this opportunity to face the leader in the World Rankings in Samurai Japan, who have proven to be the best team in international baseball in the last few years.”
Both teams participated in the recently finished WBSC Premier12 2024 presented by RAXUS, with Japan losing the final against Chinese Taipei, 4-0 and the Netherlands ending the tournament in ninth place.
This marks the second time Team Kingdom of the Netherlands will face Samurai Japan in the land of the rising sun. In 2016, the Orange squad was very close to a victory in both games but Japan proved to be just too strong in the end and won both games 9-8 and 12-10.
The biggest name on the Japanese team in that series was Shohei Ohtani, who has reached legendary status in the meantime and won his third MVP Award in Major League Baseball last month.
In 2024, Japan hosted Czechia in the first edition of the RAXUS Samurai Japan Series in Nagoya in preparation for the WBSC Premier12 2024 presented by RAXUS with the home side defeating the Europeans 7-1 and 9-0.
