Baseball: Ex-Dragons manager Sadao Kondo dies at 80
January 2, 2006Sadao Kondo, a Hall of Famer who was known for helping establish the division of labor for pitchers and who skippered the Chunichi Dragons and two other teams, died at a Tokyo hospital Monday. He was 80. A native of Aichi Prefecture, he pitched in 14 seasons, first for the prewar Nishitetsu baseball team and later for the Yomiuri Giants and the Dragons.
Athletics: Juntendo Univ. wins 1st day of Tokyo-Hakone ekiden
January 2, 2006Masato Imai ran a strong fifth and final leg as Juntendo University won the first-day title of the Tokyo-Hakone collegiate ekiden road relay on Monday. Imai and four other runners covered the 108-kilometer course from Tokyo's Otemachi business district to the hot-spring resort town of Hakone in Kanagawa Prefecture in 5 hours, 33 minutes, 26 seconds.
Soccer: Nakamura sets up late win to break Hearts
January 2, 2006Japan midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura orchestrated a dramatic late win with two superb free kicks as Celtic beat 10-man Hearts 3-2 to go seven points clear at the top of the Scottish Premier League on Sunday. Celtic trailed 2-0 through goals in the first eight minutes from Edgaras Jankauskas and Steven Pressley before substitute Stephen Pearson ignited Celtic's comeback 10 minutes after the break by bundling home from close range.