Japanese fans erupted with joy yesterday as the Samurais beat the US 9-4 to advance to the World Baseball Classic final.
Japan, which defeated Cuba to win the inaugural classic three years ago, were due to face their arch-rivals from South Korea, the reigning Olympic champions, yesterday at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso led the expressions of praise and goodwill for Team Samurai in baseball-obsessed Japan: telling reporters: “You got to keep up the momentum to win the title for two straight times. I hope they will.”
In its evening edition, the business daily Nikkei wrote: “The United States staked their pride on being the ‘controlling nation’ of baseball. But Japan magnificently countered and repelled them with technique.”
“With the belief that their style has proven right, Japan will face the ‘final’ showdown with South Korea,” it wrote.
Japan’s world figure skating champion Mao Asada said she had been inspired by her country’s run to the Classic final against the homeland of her rival Kim Yu-na.
“I have been cheering for Japan every day. I have drawn so much power from them,” she told reporters before leaving Osaka to defend her title at this week’s world championships also to be held in Los Angeles.
“I want them to win and I will do my best as well,” she said.
Tomoaki Kato, a 32-year-old company worker, told the mass-circulation Yomiuri Shimbun: “I felt the power of [US] major leaguers was awesome. But Japan’s skill prevailed.”
“I really enjoyed it. I was excited,” Japanese golfer Shigeki Maruyama, 39, who has three US PGA Tour wins to his name, told TBS after watching the game.
“I want them to show the Japanese spirit tomorrow,” he said.
Earlier, top government spokesman Takeo Kawamura took time out from his daily briefing to comment on the game.
“I believe it will be a game in which nothing can be taken for granted,” he said about the final. “But I want to pin great hope on the squad.”
The two countries had split four earlier games in the 16-nation event. Japan is the only team to have defeated South Korea in the tournament.
Famous Japanese Kabuki actor Kanzaburo Nakamura, 53, said: “My voice got so hoarse after shouting too much. Tomorrow. Tomorrow is the day.”
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but
Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai failed to secure an Olympic berth in the pommel horse following a second-place finish at the last qualifier in Doha on Friday, a performance that Lee and his coach called “unconvincing.” The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist finished runner-up in the final after scoring 6.6 for degree of difficulty and 8.800 for execution for a combined score of 15.400. That was just 0.100 short of Jordan’s Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had qualified for the event in Paris before the Apparatus World Cup series in Qatar’s capital. After missing the final rounds in the first two of four qualifier