Olympian Takeshi Omori to manage Japan at WBSC U-15 Baseball World Cup

Takeshi Omori will manage World No. 1 Japan at the WBSC U-15 Baseball World Cup 2026.

"I am grateful for this valuable opportunity to experience world-class youth baseball alongside the younger generation who aspire to play for Japan," Omori, a 1988 Seoul Olympian, said. "We will fight to win the tournament again with a balanced style of baseball that is uniquely Japanese, combining 'softness' and 'hardness'."

Born in 1967 in Nara, Omori was a standout first baseman and outfielder at Keio University. In 1988, he won the Tokyo Big Six University League Triple Crown. He helped Japan finish second in the Baseball Demonstration Tournament at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

He played for the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) from 1990 to 1997 and was part of the 1996 team that lost the Japan Series against the Orix Blue Wave. Ichiro Suzuki earned the series MVP Award.

Omori managed the NPB All-Star Team in the Asia Winter Baseball League in 2012, 2013, and 2015, and has served in various positions in player development and scouting for the Yomiuri Giants since 2000.

The WBSC U-15 Baseball World Cup 2026

Mexico will host the WBSC U-15 Baseball World Cup from September 25 to October 4 at the Parque Kukulcán Alamo, home of the Yucatán Leones in the Mexican Baseball League (LMB), in Merida.

The WBSC U-15 Baseball World Cup was inaugurated in 2012 in Chihuahua, Mexico, and returned to the country in 2014 (Mazatlán) and 2022 (Hermosillo). It succeeded the WBSC World Youth Baseball Championship, a U-16 competition inaugurated in 1989 and held 13 editions through 2011.

Japan are the defending champions after defeating Puerto Rico in the World Championship Final to win the 2024 edition in Barranquilla, Colombia.

The 12 participants

• World No. 6 Mexico earned the right to participate as the host country
• No. 18 Germany and No. 16 Czechia qualified through the U-15 European Championship
• No. 2 Chinese Taipei and No. 1 Japan qualified through the XII BFA U-15 Asian Championship
• No. 5 Venezuela won the South American Qualifier
• No. 9 Cuba and No. 12 Dominican Republic qualified through the WBSC Americas Caribbean Qualifier
• No. 3 USA and No. 16 Nicaragua qualified through the WBSC Americas Central and North American Qualifier
• No. 11 Australia won the WBSC Oceania Qualifier
• No. 23 South Africa won the WBSC Africa Qualifier