Lotte pitcher Watanabe gets salary hike
December 23, 2005Lotte Marines submarine right-hander Shunsuke Watanabe re-signed Friday with the Japan Series champions for an estimated 140 million yen plus performance-based incentives of up to 10 million yen. The annual salary more than doubled from this year'...
WBC squad to play Lotte, Yomiuri
December 23, 2005Japan's squad for the World Baseball Classic will play the Lotte Marines and the Yomiuri Giants to warm up for the first round of the tournament against its Asian rivals, baseball officials said Friday. Sadaharu Oh's team is scheduled to meet a te...
Yoshida, Hamaguchi breeze to titles
December 23, 2005Reigning Olympic and world champion Saori Yoshida won her fourth consecutive title while Kyoko Hamaguchi stretched her title streak to 10 at the national wrestling championships Friday. Yoshida scored a comfortable 2-0 win on points over Chikako M...
Miyazato to limit appearances on Japan tour in 2006
December 23, 2005Ai Miyazato wants to limit her appearances in Japan next season and said Friday she does not intend to play on the Japan LPGA tour until after the majors wrap up at the Women's British Open in August. "I'm not thinking about playing on the Japan t...
Oda takes lead after short program at nationals
December 23, 2005Nobunari Oda got off to a strong start in his quest for an Olympic berth when he took the lead over rival Daisuke Takahashi after the men's short program at the national championships Friday. Oda flawlessly executed a triple axel and collected 79....
Sharapova, Hingis to play at Toray Pan Pacific Open
December 23, 2005Defending champion Maria Sharapova will feature in a strong field of players at the 2006 Toray Pan Pacific Open, which also includes former world No. 1 Martina Hingis, organizers said Friday. World No. 1 Lindsay Davenport, who like Hingis has won...
Mori moving closer to joining Devil Rays
December 23, 2005Pitcher Shinji Mori is moving toward joining the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. "Negotiations are going very well. I got excited when I went to Tropicana Field," Mori said Thursday. The 30-year-old is in St. Petersburg for talks with Devil Rays executives...
Tabata wins 7th national title
December 23, 2005Maki Tabata held on to her overnight lead in the women's all-round competition to capture her seventh title at the speed skating national championships on Thursday. Tabata clocked 1 minute, 59.30 seconds to win the 1,500 meters and her third-place...
Uehara highest-paid pitcher in Japan
December 23, 2005Despite a 20-million-yen pay cut from this year, Koji Uehara became the highest-paid pitcher in Japan, when he re-signed on Thursday with the Yomiuri Giants for an estimated 340 million yen. At the same time, the 30-year-old Uehara said, "I promis...
Imaoka re-signs with Hanshin for Y330 mil
December 23, 2005Hanshin Tigers infielder Makoto Imaoka re-signed with the Central League club Thursday for an estimated 330 million yen, making him the first Japanese player in team history to reach the 300-million-yen mark. Imaoka saw an increase of 80 million y...
JFA to put 60% of World Cup tickets on general sale
December 23, 2005The Japan Football Association said Thursday it plans to put on general sale around 60% of its allocation of tickets for Japan's first-round matches at next year's World Cup finals in Germany. The JFA expects soccer's world governing body FIFA to...