Japan manager Kuriyama excited by new-look World Baseball Classic

Manager Hideki Kuriyama’s Samurai Japan will begin its campaign for a third World Baseball Classic championship on March 9 at Tokyo Dome under a new format, organizers announced Thursday. Next year’s tournament will see five-team first-round pools and knockout play, starting from the second-round pools, to decide who advances to the final round that concludes in Miami on March 21. “It’s an easy-to-understand tense and pressure-packed format,” Kuriyama told a Tokyo press conference. “I’m going to be under great pressure. But it’s going to be baseball at its best.” Over the first four days of th…

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