items tagged with Japan Sports

YOKOHAMA -- Twelve members of Kanto Gakuin University's rugby club inhaled marijuana in addition to two players who are under indictment for growing dope plants at the club dormitory here, police said.

The 12, including a regular member of the team, admitted to the allegations during questioning. The two who are under indictment have already been expelled from the club.

"If it's true, it'd be indeed regrettable, as we told students to follow the law," a university spokesman said.

Kanagawa Prefectural Police are set to send investigation reports to prosecutors, accusing the 12 of possessing or receiving marijuana, as the Cannabis Control Law has no specific clause providing for punishment of those who use marijuana.

The 12 inhaled marijuana at the club dormitory in Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama, and at a hotel in Nagano Prefecture where they stayed during the club's summer camp between July and August, investigators said.

The marijuana they smoked was grown by Keiji Umeno, 21, and Taiki Nakamura, 21, under indictment for violating the Cannabis Control Law.

SAN JOSE, California (AP) -- Japanese teen star Kei Nishikori won his 10th straight ATP match in beating Argentina's Diego Hartfield 7-5, 6-3 to advance to the second round of the SAP Open on Wednesday.

The 18-year-old Nishikori, 131st in the world rankings following his victory over James Blake on Sunday in Delray Beach, Florida, will face the winner of a late match between top-seeded Andy Roddick and Chris Guccione.

Nishikori, the first Japanese player to win an ATP title since Shuzo Matsuoka in Seoul in 1992, was looking forward to a match against Roddick.

"I think I'm ready," Nishikori said. "I'll be facing another top-10 player. His serve is a big thing. He'll be the highest ranked player I've ever played."

Midway through the first set, Nishikori saw Roddick watching from the stands.

"When I was down 4-3, I saw him in the stands," Nishikori said. "I got really nervous. He was sitting next to my coach. I wanted to play Roddick. That's why I won."

In second-round matches, fourth-seeded Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic hit 16 aces to edge Bobby Reynolds of the United States 7-5, 7-6 (5); Robby Ginepri upset eighth-seeded Kristof Vliegen of Belgium 6-2, 6-3; and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain withstood 16 aces from Benjamin Becker to beat the German 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4.

Three sumo wrestlers who allegedly assaulted a junior wrestler during a training session last year will refrain from participating in the January Grand Sumo Tournament, which will start on Sunday.

It is the second time that the three wrestlers, who belong to the Tokitsukaze stable, have withdrawn from a tournament after they were absent from the November Grand Sumo Tournament last year.

Stablemaster Tokitsukaze filed reports of their absence to the Japan Sumo Association on Friday.

Tokitsukaze said he talked with the three wrestlers on Thursday and quoted one of them as telling him, "If we participate in the tournament, we will cause you trouble."

The three were reportedly involved in the assault of junior wrestler Takashi Saito, who later died.

The 36 teams that will participate in the 80th National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament have been selected, officials said on Friday.

The selection committee for the annual baseball tournament, familiarly called "Senbatsu," met at the Osaka headquarters of the Mainichi Newspapers in Osaka's Kita-ku on Friday to select the 36 schools that will join the 13-day tournament starting on March 22.

Four of the 36 schools were selected to fill special quotas -- Awa High School in Chiba Prefecture, Seisho High School in Aichi Prefecture, Karyo High School in Yamaguchi Prefecture and Ichinoseki Gakuin Senior High School in Iwate Prefecture.

The spring baseball tournament is sponsored by the Mainichi Newspapers and the Japan High School Baseball Federation.

FORT MYERS, Florida (AP) -- The media frenzy is finished. The interest in the gyroball is missing. The curiosity about the brilliant Japanese pitcher is gone.

Daisuke Matsuzaka is no longer a rookie in U.S. Major League Baseball. This spring training is already much calmer than his first one with the Red Sox.

"I know where everything is," he said through a translator. "I know the layout of the facilities and things like that, so it's been a lot easier being back this year."

Only about 20 reporters spoke with Matsuzaka after his second day at camp Monday. Last year, at his first official news conference of spring training, there were about 100 media members plus nine satellite trucks.

That event was televised live to Japan, where it was 7 a.m. -- must-see TV after Boston paid $51.1 million for the right to negotiate with him and another $52 million for his six-year contract.

Most of that pressure has disappeared. The burden of making up for the absence of Curt Schilling has been added.

Dice-K threw 41 pitches Monday, ignored by most of the media. The blogger at 38pitches.com, Schilling, is the team's big story now.

"I think at the end of the season last year, I had already decided that I'd put a lot of pressure on myself this year to perform really well," Matsuzaka said Monday. "So that was decided before I knew about Curt's injury. But now that I do know, I'd like to do my best to fill whatever holes I can."

Matsuzaka had a legitimate chance to become No. 2 pitcher in the starting rotation, behind Josh Beckett, even before it was disclosed last week that rehabilitation of a shoulder injury would sideline Schilling at least until the MLB All-Star break.

Matsuzaka will be in that spot at the first official workout for pitchers and catchers Saturday, two days after they're scheduled to report. Four-fifths of the projected rotation -- Beckett, Matsuzaka, Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz -- already are in camp. Only Tim Wakefield didn't work out there Monday.

Matsuzaka lived up to his billing as perhaps Japan's best pitcher from the start of last season, even though he playfully refused to say whether he had brought his perhaps mythical gyroball pitch with him.

In his first game with Boston, he allowed one run and struck out 10 in seven innings of a 4-1 win at Kansas City. In the first half of the season, he was 10-6 with a 3.84 ERA with 123 strikeouts and 38 walks.

Then the long grind of the season took its toll. In the second half, he was 5-6 with a 5.19 ERA with just 78 strikeouts and 42 walks. His fatigue peaked at an unaccustomed time.

"In Japan, it usually comes around June or July," Matsuzaka said. That's "when I feel the most tired. I can build myself back up toward the end of the year and toward the playoffs.

"But what happened last year was I couldn't time it as well. So I just felt the fatigue just dragged on gradually all the way throughout September, so I wasn't able to readjust. But for me I felt like it was a little bit off even from the beginning of spring training."

Overall, he was 15-12 with a 4.40 ERA and was sixth in the American League with 201 strikeouts.

His problems continued in the playoffs when he failed to get out of the fifth inning in his first two starts before earning the win in the seventh game of the AL championship series in Cleveland when he gave up two runs in five innings.

And in Game 3 of Boston's sweep of Colorado in the World Series, he came through again,. allowing two runs in 5 1-3 innings of a 10-5 win.

Then his first U.S. season was over. He returned to Japan as part of a championship team. His journey from star in his native country to rookie in the United States was over.

His second American spring training is under way. His regular season begins in Tokyo where the Red Sox will face the Oakland Athletics on March 25 and 26.

Matsuzaka's participation is uncertain because his wife is due to give birth about that time. He declined to talk about that on Monday.

He had no qualms about discussing baseball, especially since he can go about his business without having videocameras trailing him around camp. On Monday, few reporters watched him wrap up his workout with some short sprints.

"Compared to last year," Matsuzaka said, "things are going to be a lot more comfortable, a lot more familiar. So, in that sense, there's going to be a lot less stress. So, hopefully, I can take some of that energy and really focus it on baseball.

"As for high expectations, I think I'm the one that has the highest expectations for myself."