SPORTS
Page 10 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
August 20, 2018
August 20, 2018
Nervous? Not Japan’s big bats chasing Little League repeat
By Tommy Butler
The Associated Press
S
OUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. —
People in the Japanese city of
Kawaguchi have long memories.
They still recall the last time a team
from this town north of Tokyo made it to
the Little League World Series, ultimately
losing to Georgia in the 2006 final.
“A lot of people (in Kawaguchi) say
‘2006. Don’t forget about it, get the title
back to Japan,’” manager Hiroyuki
Takahashi said through an interpreter.
Doesn’t matter to these players as they
chase a second straight world title for
Japan — the oldest kids were infants back
in 2006.
Today, representing Japan comes with
expectations.
Japanese teams at the Little League
World Series have returned home as
victors five of the last eight years, and have
the second-most championship victories
all-time with 11, only behind the 17 won by
Taiwan.
A team from Tokyo last year cruised
through the international bracket, then
beat a team from Lufkin, Texas, by mercy
rule in the championship.
Takahashi was nonchalant when asked
if his team felt any pressure to continue
that dominance.
“Nothing,” he said. “We just play our
best.”
Kawaguchi showed what that best
meant
during
Japan’s
qualifying
tournament. The team scored 45 runs in
four straight wins, including a 23-2 win
over Nagasaki Minami Little League to
clinch a trip to South Williamsport.
“It was just the boys’ best effort.”
Takahashi said.
Kawaguchi will be tough to stop if it can
stay hot at the plate. But even if the team
cools off, Takahashi isn’t worried.
“We have a very good defensive team,”
said Takahashi. “I’m not sure of the
defensive stats, but our defense is also very
decent.”
Kawaguchi had a little time to work on
any weaknesses ahead of its first game
against Europe-Africa representative
GRASS-FED
BEEF FOR SALE
Call (503) 980-5900 for details
GRASS-FED & GRASS-FINISHED BEEF
Farm-raised in Newberg, Oregon
Beef available as:
Quarter cow Half cow Whole cow
Beef is processed by a Portland butcher.
Pickup available in August at N.E. Sandy Blvd. location.
Barcelona, which they won 11-1.
Third baseman Shinji Furusawa didn’t
think his team had anything more than
minor tweaks to make ahead of
competition in South Williamsport.
“We scored 45 runs while in the Japan
Regional Tournament,” Furusawa said,
also through an interpreter. “We are
capable of defeating these teams.”
Takahashi said he’s noticed one
disadvantage for his team — there’s only
one player taller than 5’5”. Japan’s first
baseman, Masato Igarashi, is the tallest at
5’9”.
“I think Japan is very skilled and they
JAPANESE SLUGGERS. Second baseman Soya
Ebihara of Japan fields a grounder during the Little
League World Series (LLWS) tournament in South
Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Japanese teams at the
tournament have returned home as victors five of the
last eight years, and have the second-most champion-
ship victories all-time with 11, only behind the 17 won
by Taiwan. (AP Photo/Tom E. Puskar)
have good accuracy,” Takahashi said. “But
some other teams have bigger bodies so we
don’t know what kind of baseball they
play.”
Still, the first few days for the teams in
Pennsylvania are more about fun than
scouting.
“There are really a lot of different teams,
so we’re just trying to make friends,” he
said. “Team Australia gave us t-shirts with
all of the players’ autographs on them, so
we took a picture with them. It’s really
good that international teams are making
friends.”
Make no mistake, even while he’s
connecting with players coming from
across the world and across language
barriers, Japan’s catcher Masaumi
Ikeuchi still has his mind on the diamond.
“We want to show the performance we
have (in us),” Ikeuchi said. “We want to
have the first score.”
Batter up: The tournament began
August 16 with Puerto Rico taking on
South Korea. Central Pennsylvania had
an unusually rainy summer, which has
organizers and volunteers hoping for a
break in the weather through August 26,
when the championship game is
scheduled.
Son Heung-min travels to
Indonesia for the Asian Games
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — After
making his first appearance of the
Premier League season on August 11,
Tottenham forward Son Heung-min
landed in Indonesia two days later to
play for South Korea at the Asian
Games.
The 25-team soccer tournament is
not officially recognized by the
Fédération
Internationale
de
Football Association (FIFA), but
Tottenham allowed the 26-year-old
Son to leave England after the 2-1
win at Newcastle.
Son is one of three overage players
on the under-23 team. If South Korea
wins the gold medal, Son will be
exempt from 21 months of military
service, an obligation he is otherwise
expected to start within the next two
years.
“Of course our target is gold, but it
is a long way to get to the final,” Son
said on his arrival at Bandung
International Airport. “How we
approach the game mentally is
important. I have thought about the
Asian Games a lot.”
Son missed the 2014 Asian Games
because he was not released by
former club, Bayer Leverkusen.
South Korea, which will have four
members of its World Cup team on
the roster, is favored to win the title
in Indonesia. In Russia, the South
Koreans were knocked out in the
group stage, but defeated Germany
ANNUAL ASIAN GAMES. Son Heung-Min, right, of South Korea, shoots on goal during a
men’s soccer match between South Korea and Malaysia at the Asian Games at Si Jalak Harupat Sta-
dium in Bandung, Indonesia. The Tottenham forward landed in Indonesia for the Asian Games two
days after making his first appearance in the Premier League. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)
2-0, eliminating the defending
champions in the process.
“We beat Germany at the World
Cup when nobody expected it,” said
Son, who scored twice in Russia.
“Like that, we could lose to other
Asian teams here. We have to take
each game as it comes, however, and
if we don’t give everything in every
game then it will be tough.”
The other 19 members of the team
arrived August 11. One of the
standouts at the World Cup was
goalkeeper Cho Hyun-woo, another
overage player. Cho has already
applied to start his military service in
December, but could be exempt with a
gold medal.
“The World Cup is in the past now
and I want to focus on the Asian
Games,” Cho said. “We want to show
what we are made of and Son told me
he just wants to score lots of goals.”
South Korea defeated Bahrain 6-0 in
its opening group match, but was then
stunned by Malaysia, who beat them 2-1.
The final group match against Kyrgyzstan
is scheduled for Monday, August 20.
The Asian Reporter is published on the first & third Monday each month.
News page advertising deadlines for our next two issues are:
September 3 to 16 edition:
Space reservations due: Wednesday, August 29 at 1:00pm
Artwork due: Thursday, August 30 at 1:00pm
September 17 to 30 edition:
Space reservations due: Wednesday, September 12 at 1:00pm
Artwork due: Thursday, September 13 at 1:00pm
For more information, please contact our advertising department at (503) 283-4440.
