Fukuoka, Tokyo to host games during '13 WBC

SAN FRANCISCO — Two-time defending champion Japan and Cuba will face off in the first round of pool play in next year's World Baseball Classic. Home-field advantage: Japan.

Japan will host first and second rounds of pool play at two sites in the 2013 World Baseball Classic, which features a new qualifying format rather than the invitation-only system of the first two events.

The top 12 nations from the last WBC were already in, then the other four determined from 28 teams through qualifying. The WBC winner will be named world champion for the first time.

The first round games for Pool A will be held in Fukuoka from March 2-6 with Japan, China, Cuba and a qualifier to be determined. The second round moves to Tokyo Dome.

"Cuba was a good fit in Japan," WBC president Paul Archey said. "We have more games in Asia. Somebody is going to have to go to Asia and play."

The WBC announced its venues and pools Tuesday outside the Giants' AT&T Park, which will host the semifinals and championship game in the event's third run. Two more qualifying teams are still to be determined in November, with rosters scheduled to be announced Dec. 3 at the baseball winter meetings in Nashville, Tennessee.

Players will be subject to drug testing by the World Anti-Doping Agency.

San Juan, Puerto Rico, will host games for the third time at Hiram Bithorn Stadium. Those games will be played March 7-10 featuring Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and a qualifier.

The Arizona Diamondbacks' Chase Field and the club's shared Scottsdale spring training facility with the Rockies, Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, hosts Pool D games between the U.S., Italy, Mexico and a qualifier.

Taichung, Taiwan, will stage the event for the first time. Those games at Intercontinental Stadium will be in Pool B from March 2-5, featuring Australia, Korea, the Netherlands and a qualifier.

Two qualifying nations were determined in recent days, though they are yet to be placed in a pool because the WBC must learn the other two participants and then seed all four qualifiers for the best competitive balance. Spain earned a spot by beating Israel in extra innings Sunday in Jupiter, Florida, while Canada defeated Germany on Monday to secure a place in the tournament.

The inaugural 2006 WBC featured a pool-play format, while 2009 was double-elimination — and the next one will be a combination of both. The first round will be pool play, with the top two teams advancing. The second round is double-elimination, and the top two teams will reach the semifinals.

Riccardo Fraccari, president of the International Baseball Federation, announced the WBC winner will now be crowned world champion — a title that in the past was determined through World Cup play.

Giants CEO Larry Baer said his franchise had twice tried to become a WBC host for the final two rounds. San Diego hosted the first WBC and then Los Angeles' Dodger Stadium in '09.

"They really put a great package together and showed a passion for getting it and a lot of energy, so their efforts were rewarded," Archey said. "It's a great city. It's an international city. They've obviously had a tremendous amount of success filling this ballpark and on the baseball field since the last Classic. That just made a great fit."

The World Baseball Classic "reflects the international flavor of our city in many ways," said Mayor Ed Lee, who hopes for an economic impact of more than $100 million.

A huge blue World Baseball Classic poster hangs from AT&T Park outside along the right field area.

"I must say the WBC sign makes the stadium look pretty," said Felipe Alou, the former San Francisco skipper who managed the Dominican WBC team in 2009. "It also makes our beautiful stadium look prettier. I'm 100 percent for the World Classic. . . . I'm pretty sure the third Classic is going to be even better than the second Classic. I'm with this until the end."

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NBA camp coming to Tokyo in June

NEW YORK — The NBA's Basketball without Borders camps will go to Tokyo and Moscow for the first time.

South Africa also will host a camp for the 10th time, the league and FIBA announced Wednesday.

Led by now-retired big man Dikembe Mutombo and Houston center Sam Dalembert, the Tokyo camp will take place June 13-16. Players and coaches also will visit Sendai, where they will conduct a clinic for children affected by last year's earthquake and tsunami.

Among those taking part in the Johannesburg camp from Aug. 30-Sept. 2 are Chicago teammates Luol Deng and C.J. Watson, Oklahoma City's Serge Ibaka, and Milwaukee's Luc Mbah a Moute — a former Basketball without Borders camper from Cameroon.

Started in 2001, the camps teach basketball and provide lessons in health and wellness.

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FC Tokyo suffers first defeat in Asian Champions League

ULSAN, South Korea — FC Tokyo went down 1-0 away to South Korea's Ulsan Hyundai in the Asian Champions League on Wednesday, a first defeat of the competition costing the Emperor's Cup holders a home tie against J. League champions Kashiwa Reysol in the round of 16.

Out of gas: FC Tokyo's Hiroki Kawano moves the ball as an Ulsan player defends during their match on Wednesday. KYODO

Both teams had already qualified for the next stage but Tokyo only needed a draw to secure top spot in Group F and home advantage against Reysol, who finished second in Group H after a gutsy 2-0 win at Jeonbuk Motors on Tuesday.

Instead Kang Min Soo's goal late in the first half means Ulsan finish top and will meet Kashiwa and Tokyo now face a tough assignment away to Chinese champions Guangzhou Evergrande in the single-leg next round on May 30.

The J. League will have three teams in the round of 16, with Nagoya having also advanced on Tuesday thanks to a 3-0 victory over Central Coast Mariners. Already eliminated Gamba Osaka were beaten 2-0 at home by Australia's Adelaide United on Wednesday in Group E. Adelaide will play Nagoya on May 29.

Tokyo took the game to Ulsan from the kickoff and Kazuma Watanabe missed a great chance to give the Gasmen the lead in the 13th minute when he screwed wide after Hideto Takahashi's effort had come back off the post.

Tatsuya Yazawa then brought an acrobatic save out of Ulsan keeper Young Kwang Kim on 26 minutes and Hyun Soo Jang sent a free header wide from the corner that followed, but it was the South Koreans that broke the deadlock from a set piece eight minutes before the interval.

Hitoshi Shiota parried Tae Hwi Kwak's header after he got on the end of Seung Yong Kim's free kick, and Maranhao headed against the bar before the rebound fell to Kang, who drove home the rebound from the edge of the six-yard box.

Young did well to save a swerving shot from Yazawa on the hour mark as Tokyo pressed for an equalizer and he was again on hand to block Ariajasuru Hasegawa's shot in the 77th minute and a low effort from substitute Lucas deep into time added on.

YOKOHAMA — Yokohama F. Marinos rattled off their fifth straight win, roaring back from a goal down in the last seven minutes to defeat holders Kashima Antlers 3-2 in the Nabisco Cup on Wednesday.

Shingo Hyodo, Manabu Saito and Masashi Oguro scored for Marinos, who produced their first victory of the league cup while dealing Group B leaders Kashima their first defeat of the competition.

Yasushi Endo and Juninho netted for Jorginho's Antlers.

Kashima's loss allowed Shimizu S-Pulse to pull level on points with nine. Ardija and Consadole Sapporo fought to a 1-1 draw at Omiya in the group's remaining game.

Marinos have been a team of streaks this year under Yasuhiro Higuchi, failing to win their first 10 games in all competitions before stringing together four straight victories, all in the league.

Higuchi rested almost half the team — including Shunsuke Nakamura — who thumped Sanfrecce Hiroshima 3-1 at the weekend but still mustered enough to open the scoring.

In the 36th minute, Saito was unleashed by Yuji Ono for a one-on-one with goalkeeper Hitoshi Sogahata, who gave away a penalty for tripping up the Japan Olympic team striker.

Hyodo converted with ease for his first goal of the competition as the hosts headed into the tunnel with the advantage.

Endo came on at halftime and the substitution paid off for Antlers two minutes to the hour, when the midfielder wove through three defenders before slotting home the equalizer.

Kashima made it 2-1 in the 68th minute thanks to Juninho, who pounced on a beauty of a through ball from former Japanese international Masashi Motoyama.

But the drama started to unfold in the 83rd minute when Sogahata committed a schoolboy error, fumbling a Nakamura cross into the path of Saito who restored parity with his second strike of the Nabisco Cup.

Marinos capped the comeback four minutes to time through Oguro, who, from well outside the box, blasted into the bottom right corner to give his team the three points.

In Group A, Sagan Tosu defeated leaders Jubilo Iwata 3-2 at home behind a brace by Yusuke Inuzuka and Urawa Reds thrashed Kawasaki Frontale 3-0 away as Tomoya Ugajin struck twice in the second half.

Cerezo Osaka unearthed a 2-1 win over Sanfrecce Hiorshima deep in stoppage time as South Korea's Olympic team midfielder Kim Bo Kyung netted in the 95th minute.

Jubilo are still in the lead with nine points, three points ahead of Cerezo, Sagan and Reds.

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Support near 65 percent for Tokyo bid

The support ratio for Tokyo's bid to host the 2020 Summer Olympics turned out to be around 65 percent both within the city and across the nation — below a target of 70 percent, sources familiar with the matter said Friday.

Asked to compare the latest survey results with 60 percent in Tokyo and 62 percent in Japan reported for the failed 2016 bid, a senior Tokyo official said, "I think that's not bad at this point."

Tokyo will add the support ratio to the so-called bid file to be submitted to the International Olympic Committee by Feb. 15.

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Tokyo appoints Popovic as manager

Promoted FC Tokyo on Monday named former Oita Trinita boss Ranko Popovic as the newly crowned Emperor's Cup winners' manager for next season.

The 44-year-old Serbian, who got FC Machida Zelvia promoted from the semi-professional Japan Football League to the J. League after guiding them to third place last season, takes over from Kiyoshi Okuma.

"I want to establish an attractive FC Tokyo style and try and win games with an attacking brand of soccer," Popovic said in a club statement.

Popovic in July 2009 replaced sacked Brazilian manager Pericles Chamusca at Oita when the club had effectively already been relegated to the second division.

Okuma steered second-division champion Tokyo to a 4-2 win over Kyoto Sanga in the Emperor's Cup final on Sunday.

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Kyoto, FC Tokyo reach Emperor's Cup final

J. League second-division minnows Kyoto Sanga set up a historic Emperor's Cup final with J2 champion FC Tokyo after scalping Yokohama F. Marinos 4-2 in extra time on Thursday.

No J2 team had ever reached the final on New Year's Day.

Substitutes Yuya Kubo and Yoshiaki Komai scored in the second half of extra time from 2-2 for Kyoto, which previously lifted the cup in 2002 with Gert Engels in charge.

Kohei Kudo and Dutra also struck during the second half of normal time for Takeshi Oki's side, which had knocked out holders Kashima Antlers in the round of 16.

Kazuma Watanabe netted the opener for Marinos in the first half, and substitute Masashi Oguro invited the extra 30 minutes deep into injury time.

The Emperor's Cup winners will qualify for next year's Asian Champions League alongside the top three finishers of the J. League — Kashiwa Reysol, Nagoya Grampus and Gamba Osaka.

"I don't want to say congratulations to my team just yet. Not until we win one more," said Oki, an assistant to Takeshi Okada on Japan's 2010 World Cup team.

At Osaka Nagai Stadium, Tatsuya Yazawa scored the 77th-minute winner in a 1-0 victory over Cerezo Osaka, who played their last game under Levir Culpi.

Marinos may have had the lead at the break, but it was Kyoto which brought all the excitement in the first half at the National Stadium.

Sanga's go-go style was full on as they took the game right to the J1 giants, who had squeezed past Nagoya on penalties after a 0-0 draw in the quarterfinals.

Kyoto came within inches of scoring not just once but three times in the 38th minute.

First, forward Takumi Miyayoshi had a header cleared off the line. Defender Michitaka Akimoto then pounced on the rebound, hitting the underside of the bar, before Koken Kato smashed the deflection off the left-hand post.

A minute later, Dutra had a header kept out by goalkeeper Hiroki Iikura as Sanga continued to pour on the attack.

Yet it was Marinos who would break the deadlock against the run of play in the 42nd minute, when Shunsuke Nakamura pierced the Kyoto defense with a through ball for Watanabe.

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Gymnastics worlds to stay in Tokyo

SAN JOSE, California — The world gymnastics championships will be hosted by Tokyo this October as originally planned, despite earlier concerns about high radiation levels following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, the International Gymnastics Federation said Sunday.

The FIG found no scientific basis to call off the Oct. 7-16 event at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, which acts as the main qualifier for the 2012 London Olympics.

FIG president Bruno Grandi said the federation made the decision after consulting with experts who said it would be safe to go ahead as scheduled with the worlds.

"I am relieved. The FIG executive committee was not moved by sentiment and made a composed decision," said Japan Gymnastics Association president Hidenori Futagi.

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Gymnastics worlds still set for Tokyo

San Jose California — The world gymnastics championships appear to be on track for Tokyo this fall.

The International Gymnastics Federation's Executive Committee decided Friday not to step in and move the worlds, the main qualifier for the 2012 Olympics in London. Instead, the final decision will come this weekend from the FIG Council, which originally awarded these world championships to Tokyo four years ago.

Worlds are scheduled for Oct. 7-16 at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium. Figure skating moved its world championships out of Tokyo after the earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan in March, and the FIG had expressed concern about high radiation levels outside Fukushima, about 240 km outside of Tokyo. But organizers assured gymnastics officials that safety won't be a concern, and the executive committee decided there was no reason to overturn the council's original decision.

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