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Kyodo sports news summary
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TOKYO, Sept. 19 (00:26) Kyodo
---------- Baseball: Okada not to be offered contract for next season KOBE - The Orix Buffaloes have not made an offer to bring manager Akinobu Okada back for next season after the team's lackluster performance this year, club sources said Tuesday. The 54-year-old Okada, who is in the final year of a three-year contract, said the same day that he was already prepared to take responsibility for the last-place Buffaloes and had left the decision up to the team sometime ago. ---------- Baseball: Yoshimi has broken elbow, out for Climax Series NAGOYA - Chunichi Dragons starter Kazuki Yoshimi was diagnosed with a broken bone in his right elbow after undergoing an MRI on Tuesday, meaning he is expected to miss the upcoming Climax Series playoffs. Yoshimi complained of discomfort in the elbow during a start against the Yomiuri Giants on Monday and left the game after just 3-2/3 innings at Nagoya Dome. He is expected to be sidelined for at least four weeks. ---------- Baseball: Brazell not returning to Tigers NISHINOMIYA, Japan - Hanshin Tigers outfielder Craig Brazell will not return to the Central League club after the end of the 2012 season, team sources revealed Tuesday. Outfielder Matt Murton and right-handers Randy Messenger and Jason Standridge, meanwhile, are part of the struggling Tigers plans for next season and will likely remain with the team. ---------- Baseball: Active manager preferred for WBC: NPB commissioner TOKYO - Nippon Professional Baseball Commissioner Ryozo Kato hinted Tuesday that he would prefer to select a skipper for next year's World Baseball Classic among active managers in Japanese baseball. "The importance of a person who is active is one aspect that we recognize," said Kato without clearly stating who is being considered to guide Japan in its bid for a third consecutive title in 2013. ---------- Baseball: Iwasaki delivers in relief, Hawks down Lions FUKUOKA - Reliever Sho Iwasaki pitched three scoreless innings, the Softbank took advantage of shaky lefty starter Yusei Kikuchi, and Wily Mo Pena drove in two runs as the Hawks beat the Seibu Lions 5-1 to win their third in a row on Tuesday night. In other games, it was: Nippon Ham Fighters 6, Softbank Hawks 2; Rakuten Eagles 11, Lotte Marines 6; Yomiuri Giants 9, Chunichi Dragons 5; Yakult Swallows 2, Hiroshima Carp 1. ---------- Triathlon: Japanese athletes not to be sent to China due to protests TOKYO - The Japan Triathlon Union said Tuesday it has decided not to send a contingent of nine players and coaches to participate in the long distance Asian championships starting this Sunday in Weihai, Shandong Province, amid anti-Japan demonstrations in China. "Some of our athletes have had water thrown on them over the meet this month in China. We cannot ensure their safety," said JTU senior director Shinichiro Otsuka. ---------- Boxing: WBA champion Yamaguchi to meet Rodriguez in November TOKYO - WBA women's super flyweight champion Naoko Yamaguchi said Tuesday she will face Mexican challenger Judith Rodriguez in her first title defense at Tokyo's Korakuen Hall on Nov. 12. The 34-year-old Yamaguchi, who beat compatriot Tsunami Tenkai by unanimous decision to capture the crown in July, is 12-2, including 11 knockouts. ---------- Soccer: Vissel fined 10 mil. yen for fielding under-strength team TOKYO - Vissel Kobe were fined 10 million yen on Tuesday by the J-League for putting out a team that did not meet the criteria of the controversial full-strength rule. Unheard of in many of the top leagues around the world, the J-League clearly defines what full-strength is for all 40 of its member clubs. ---------- Tennis: Date-Krumm falls at 1st hurdle of Korea Open SEOUL - Kimiko Date-Krumm lost in straight sets to Magdalena Rybarikova in the first round of the Korea Open on Tuesday. Date-Krumm, who turns 42 on Sept. 28 during the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, fell 6-4, 6-3 to her Slovakian opponent. Date-Krumm has not made it past the second round of any WTA event this season. ---------- Sumo: Harumafuji grabs sole lead, Hakuho falls on 10th day TOKYO - Ozeki Harumafuji knocked the daylights out of Takayasu to remained undefeated Tuesday, but yokozuna Hakuho took a spill for his first loss at the hands of Tochiozan on the 10th day of the Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament. Harumafuji, who is making his third bid at promotion to sumo's highest rank of yokozuna after a 15-0 tour de force at the Nagoya meet in July, improved to 10-0 with five days remaining at Ryogoku Kokugikan. ---------- Baseball: Tigers' All-Star closer Fujikawa out with adductor injury OSAKA - Hanshin Tigers closer Kyuji Fujikawa was deactivated with a sore right adductor Tuesday. Fujikawa, who leads fifth-place Hanshin with 24 saves, had complained of discomfort before Monday's game and did not pitch that day. The Tigers did not say how long Fujikawa would be out for. ---------- Tennis: Nishikori eyes taking game to new heights at Japan Open TOKYO - Kei Nishikori declared himself ready to take his game to the next level for the final month-and-a-half of the season ahead of the upcoming Japan Open on Tuesday. The world No. 17 has had a solid year, reaching the Australian Open quarterfinals and the third round of Wimbledon but does not have a title in 2012. ---------- Sumo: Kotoshogiku needs extra 3 weeks to recover from knee injury TOKYO - Ozeki Kotoshogiku, who withdrew from the ongoing Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament on the fourth day with ligament damage in his left knee, will require another three weeks to recuperate, the Sadogatake wrestler said in a medical certificate submitted to the Japan Sumo Association on Tuesday. The 28-year-old Kotoshogiku, who injured the knee in a bout against Homasho on the third day, was initially diagnosed as needing just one week of recovery. ---------- Badminton: China pulls out of Yonex Open amid Senkaku tension with Japan TOKYO - China has pulled its badminton players from the Yonex Open that started on Tuesday in response to Japan's nationalization of the Senkaku Islands last week. A Nippon Badminton Association source told Kyodo News that the withdrawal came at the urging of the Chinese government, which has vehemently opposed Japan's decision to nationalize the islands to which Beijing lays claim. ---------- Baseball: Marines' Imaoka to retire at season's end CHIBA, Japan - The Lotte Marines' Makoto Imaoka, who helped the Hanshin Tigers to two Central League pennants at the height of his career, said Tuesday that he will retire at the end of the season. The 38-year-old Imaoka had added hitting and defensive coaching duties to his job as an infielder this year, but has not played a single game for the fourth-place Marines. He will hold a press conference after Lotte's farmhand finishes its season at the end of the month.
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