Japan have reached the combined Asia/East Asia Pacific qualifier final for the 2026 Men's T20 World Cup after going unbeaten in the second and final EAP sub-regional qualifier this week in Incheon, South Korea.

After a nervy start in which they won a low scoring game against the Philippines by two wickets, with a ball to spare it was pretty much plain sailing for the Japanese side, with a 7 wicket win over the hosts and a 53 run win over Indonesia rounding out the first half of the double round-robin.

A 27 run win over the Philippines continued their campaign before it ended with two big wins over South Korea (by 108 runs) and Indonesia (by 144 runs).

Kendel Kadowaki-Fleming was in the runs in both of those big wins, and he finished the tournament as the top run scorer with 275 runs at 68.75.

Japan celebrate their victory

Hosts South Korea had a disappointing tournament with six defeats in six games. Phlippines and Indonesia only beat the Koreans and each other with Philippines finishing second on net run rate.

Japan join fellow EAP qualifiers Samoa in next year's combined Asia/EAP final from which three teams will progress to the World Cup. Nepal, Oman and Papua New Guinea are already assured of their places in that final by virtue of their qualification for the last World Cup, whilst Malaysia and Kuwait progressed from the first Asian sub-regional event.

Asia sub-regional B is set to take place next month in Qatar, though the exact dates and teams involved remain unknown at this stage.