Mexico and Venezuela retained the number five and ten spots, respectively, while the Dominican Republic moved up one place to number six in the World Baseball and Softball Confederation (WBSC) global rankings, the organization announced Wednesday.
The Baseball World Ranking measures the performance of national teams, from U-12 to professional, in WBSC-sanctioned international competitions over a four-year period. The new order includes even the results of the Tokyo Olympics ball tournament.
After winning the gold medal in Tokyo, Japan added 4,290 points to remain number one among 85 nations considered. South Korea, which finished fourth at the Olympics, moved up to second place; Taiwan (Chinese Taipei) dropped to third and the United States, silver medalist at the Olympics, retained fourth place.
Mexico, which lost all three games at the Olympic Games, accumulated 2,270 points to be the second best placed country on the continent and the first among Latin American nations. Mexico earned 38 points for its sixth place finish in Tokyo.
The bronze medal obtained in Tokyo added 240 points to the Dominican Republic, which now totals 2,063, valid to climb to sixth place, equaling its best position in the history of the ranking.
In September 2017, Dominican Republic occupied the #16 rung of the ranking, mainly due to its absence from most of the lower category tournaments that award points.
Venezuela, which lost the final match of the last qualifier to miss out on Tokyo, remained in 10th place, with 1,619 points. Cuba, which failed to advance to the Olympic Games for the first time, remained in 11th place.
Puerto Rico moved up from 14th to 12th, Panama remained at number 13, Nicaragua dropped from 12th to 14th, Colombia remained at #15, Brazil dropped from 18th to 21st, while Argentina retained #25.
