[jlangjr]

That is 9 national teams in 2006. The same 10 player requirement is in place and the format is still triple round round > top 4 advance to double elim bracket.

The countries competing are:
Brazil
China
India
Indonesia
Japan
Pakistan
Philippines
Russia
USA

The pool play finished as follows:
x - China 22-2
x - India 21-3
x - Indonesia 15-9
x - USA 15-9
Pakistan 12-12
Japan 10-14
Russia 6-18
Philippines 5-19
Brazil 2-22

China beats USA 2-1 and India beats Indonesia 2-0 to keep the top two teams afloat. USA would sweep Indonesia to end their story at 4th place. And after China sweeps India the USA and India get their battle for a spot in the WBC final vs China. They split Games 1 and 2, but India secured Game 3 and a date with China. China vs India, a rematch from 3 years when India took the title. China sweeps India 2-0 and takes their first ever WBC title. They and India have finished 1-2 in both WBC's now.

WBC Champion: China
WBC Runner-up: India
WBC 3rd: USA
WBC 4th: Indonesia

With this win, China moves from a Fair to Average baseball quality.