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Holy salkow, Batman, Miki’s back! Yes, Japan’s very own Babe on Ice, Miki Ando, roared back to form in the opening event of the Grand Prix figure skating series, not only winning October’s Skate America competition in Connecticut, but overshadowing younger teen star Mao Asada, everybody’s current tip for greatness. Ando, of course, was panned after finishing a disappointing 15th at the Turin Olympics, but she’s lost a bit of chunkiness and taken her skating to a higher level; maybe now she will start to fulfill her promise. Next up on the calendar is the NHK Trophy from November 30 to December 3 in Nagano. Japan’s women skaters are hot right now. Catch them while you can. FV See sports listings for details.
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By
Fred Varcoe
J. League
Japan's soccer pros gear up for a farewell second
stage
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Looking at the stats, it appears there's only one
team in the J. League. At the end of June, the Yokohama F.
Marinos wrapped up their third straight stage title. But the
defending champions are not quite having it all their own
way, and when the second stage kicks off on August 14, Takeshi
Okada's men will, once again, have to fight to clinch
the overall title and avoid playing in a championship playoff
series.
Okada, the realist, knows full well that the odds of securing
a fourth straight stage are against them. "Even though
we clinched the first-stage title, I wasn't satisfied
with the way we played in the games," he said. "The
team did get better throughout the course of the stage, but
it still has to improve."
Okada admitted that in the stage decider-a 1-0 win
over Kashima Antlers- "We didn't try
to play good football; we just tried to win the championship."
And that's what the 52,000 who turned up wanted to
see. After another nail-biting finish to the stage, the J.
League must be wondering if the plan to end the two-phase
system, which happens next year, is such a good idea after
all. Critics want the J. League to fall into line with most
other soccer leagues, but with the addition of two teams in
2005, a single-stage, 34-game season might not have the appeal
or suspense of the two-stage setup.
That aside, Japanese soccer is enjoying a boom time, with
improvements in Zico's national team and an appealing
Under-23 Olympic team. After the Olympics, Zico will have
full access to all his players and, as in the case of his
predecessor Philippe Troussier, there's every hope
that the national team will become stronger still.
The downside of all the international action this year is
that the top players aren't getting any time off. This
can lead to exhaustion and injuries (see Hidetoshi Nakata,
Junichi Inamoto, Keisuke Tsuboi), or, in the case of Hamburg
striker Naohiro Takahara, serious travel-related illness.
The merits, or otherwise, of the single-league system will
be seen next year. What Japan must avoid is the kind of fixture
crunch that is seen in countries like England and Spain. The
Marinos had to contend with the Asian Champions League and
the A3 Cup before the start of the J. League, and it was no
surprise when they picked up only one point in their first
two games.
Should the Marinos falter, there are several clubs just below
them waiting to pounce. Jubilo Iwata finished second (by two
points) after fading unexpectedly toward the end of the stage,
but with some of their top players (Masashi Nakayama, Hiroshi
Nanami, Toshiya Fujita) reaching the twilight of their careers,
there is the possibility that Jubilo may have to wait for
further glory.
The Urawa Reds, on the other hand, always feel (misguidedly,
at times) that they're within touching distance of
success, and in the past two seasons, they have produced exciting,
but decidedly Urawa-esque, soccer. The combination of Emerson,
Alex and Tatsuya Tanaka, as well as some maturing support
members, could finally bring J. League glory to the club.
Unfortunately, key defender Tsuboi is out for most of the
year, although the addition of Turkish defender Alpay Ozalan
should help offset that problem.
Five points separated the fourth to ninth teams (Gamba, Kashima,
FC Tokyo, JEF, Grampus, Verdy), and all are capable of making
a run at the second-stage title, while at the bottom, Cerezo
Osaka need a fair chunk of inspiration from forward Tatsuhiko
Okubo to avoid claiming the one and only relegation spot.
See listings for the full rundown
of J. League second stage games.
Photos by Masaaki Kato
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