After coronavirus-related complications, Australia’s Olympic baseball team has given up on trying to qualify for the Tokyo Games. On Wednesday, Australia’s chief baseball executive Glenn Williams said it was a “gut-wrenching” decision.
The team was supposed to play in the final qualifying tournament on June 22-26 which was originally supposed to be hosted by Taiwan. Late this month it was moved to Puebla, Mexico which impacted the Australian team. Williams said, “The planning for Taiwan was extensive and with late change in location and dates, those plans became obsolete.”
Williams further explained if their team did participate and won the event, it would be impossible to compete at the Tokyo Games due to quarantine requirements. Taiwan’s team ranked No. 4 in the world pulled out of the Mexico qualifying tournament for the same reason. China withdrew as well but it was before they changed the location to Mexico.
The tournament was supposed to host 6 teams with only one winner advancing to the Tokyo Games. This leaves Dominican Republic, Netherlands, and Venezuela to compete and try to advance to the Olympics.
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