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First Asia Professional Baseball Championship opens in Tokyo, Japan wins final

The inaugural APBC opened at the Tokyo Dome in November 2017, and Japan beat South Korea 7-6 in the final.

9 Nov 2026, 14:471 min read

This summary was written by AI to complete the context; it is not based on a current source.

The first Asia Professional Baseball Championship (APBC) opened on 16 November 2017 at the Tokyo Dome. The tournament was organised by the Japanese professional league, NPB, together with the Korean and Taiwanese leagues, as a new regional event for young players.

Three national teams took part: Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. Rosters were limited mainly to players aged 24 or under, with a small number of older players allowed. The format was a round-robin stage followed by a final between the top two sides.

The final, played on 19 November, was a close contest between Japan and South Korea. Japan won 7-6 and took the first title, with the hosts' young squad beating a Korean team made up largely of domestic league prospects.

The event mattered because it created a recurring international competition outside the Olympics and the World Baseball Classic, giving emerging players top-level exposure. It also renewed the long-standing rivalry between Japan and South Korea, which colours each later meeting between the two.