The World Baseball Softball Confederation has today announced the game schedule for its 2019 Under-18 Baseball World Cup in Gijang in South Korea ©WBSC

The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) has today announced the schedule for its 2019 Under-18 Baseball World Cup in Gijang in South Korea. 

The 29th edition of the event will be contested over 50 games at Gijang-Hyundai Dream Ballpark.

The opening round is due to take place from August 30 to September 3 and the super round is scheduled for September 5 to 7 before the final is held on September 8. 

The draw for the opening round was unveiled in May with Group A featuring hosts South Korea, Australia, the Netherlands, Canada, Nicaragua and China.

Group B includes world number one-ranked team Japan, defending champions the United States, Chinese Taipei, Panama, South Africa and Spain.

The top three teams from Group A will play the top three teams from Group B in the super round, with the top two teams from that meeting in the final. 

The opening day of competition will see Group A matches between China and Canada, Australia and Nicaragua, and 2017 silver medallists South Korea and the Netherlands. 

Competition is due to run from August 30 to September 8 ©WBSC
Competition is due to run from August 30 to September 8 ©WBSC

In Group B, Panama face Chinese Taipei before Spain meet 2017 bronze medallists Japan and South Africa go up against the US.

"The teams now know the challenging path to be crowned baseball's under-18 world champions, with the best young players from one nation competing against the best players of another nation," WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari said. 

"Baseball is Korea's biggest sport and these elite youth games in Gijang promise to deliver a great atmosphere for the athletes as well as the fans watching in the ballpark and around the world."

The official website of the WBSC Under-18 Baseball World Cup has been launched in six languages, including English, French, Japanese, Korean, Spanish and Traditional Chinese.

The Korea Baseball Softball Association is the host of the event, together with Gijang County and the nation's Ministry of Strategy and Finance, and Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

The WBSC Under-18 Baseball World Cups, along with its continental qualifiers, have consistently featured players who have gone on to become some of the biggest names in the sport.

Among them are Japan's Yu Darvish and Shohei Ohtani, South Korea's Shin-soo Choo, and Cuba's Yasiel Puig and Aroldis Chapman.

Others include Clayton Kershaw, Bryce Harper, Francisco Lindor, Manny Machado and Buster Posey, all of whom played for the US's under-18 team.