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November 27, 2005

The Title that Nobody Wanted

That pretty well sums up our feelings after all three league-leading teams failed to win their matches yet again. It is hard to avoid the impresion than nobody really wants to win the championship this season, since every time a team moves into position to claim the silverware, they suddenly lose their composure and seem incapable of winning a match. Though this has no doubt given a lot of coaches a serious case of indigestion, it is certainly providing a lot of excitement for the fans. In fact, the dramatic events of the past few weeks have generated more suspense than a Steven Speilberg adventure movie, and the biggest clifhanger episode is yet to come.

While league-leading Gamba lost their fifth match in the last six attempts, both Cerezo and Antlers were held to a single point. At the same time, fourth-ranked Urawa Reds and fifth ranked JEF United both recorded victories, setting up the most remarkable of all scenarios: with one match left to play, there are five teams all within two points of first place, and none of them play head-to-head on the final day. This means that fans will be craning their necks throughout next week's contests to see the scoreboard, or glancing down at their mobile phone screens to keep abreast of the scores in four other stadiums. You couldnt ask for a more white-knuckled and suspenseful final scene.

In keeping with the cliff-hanging nature of the overall title race, nearly all of the key matches this week went right down to the wire. To spare our readers any further suspense, however, here are the final scores from this weekend's clashes.

Date	Home	.	Visitor	Venue
26 Nov		1-0		Saitama Stadium
26 Nov		5-1	<	Kashiwa-no-ha Stadium
26 Nov		1-1		Ajinomoto Stadium
26 Nov		1-1		Yokohama (Nissan) Std.
26 Nov		2-2		Nihondaira Stadium
26 Nov		1-2		Expo70 "Banpaku" Stad.
26 Nov		2-1		Oita "Big Eye" Stadium
27 Nov		0-1		Mizuho Stadium
27 Nov		2-3		Kobe Wing Stadium

1 - 2

The team's woes continued on Saturday as they faced off against the fifth-ranked team, JEF United, who entered this match four points behind the leaders and still holding out slim hopes of a title. Gamba had to contest this match without their ace striker, Araujo, who picked up his fourth yellow card last week and had to sit out a disciplinary suspension. Also missing were two other members of the attacking unit -- Masashi Oguro and Takahiro Futagawa -- who are nursing injuries.

The contest got off to a typically dramatic start, when Gamba won a free kick just to the right of the penalty box at the 29 minute mark. Yasuhito Endo sent his kick for the near post, but in what looked like too low a trajectory. Keeper Ryo Kushino had to change directions, but he caught the ball and fell on his goal line, apparently having made the save. But the linesman raised his flag and signalled that the ball had crossed the line! Though replays showed that he did indeed bobble the ball, he seemed to bring it down right on the chalk line. Naturally, the broadcasters could not be bothered to show a replay which allows one to see clearly whether or not the call was correct, but Gamba were happy to celebrate their "goal".

But it didnt take long for the tables to be turned. Just four minutes later, as JEF pressed towards goal, Yuki Abe dashed in front of a defender as Mario Haas headed a ball on into Abe's path. As the JEF United captain suddenly stopped in his tracks to wait for the ball to come down, Mitsuteru Watanabe stumbled into him from behind, and knocked Abe to the turf. Though certainly not a flagrant offence, Watanabe did make enough body contact to qualify as a foul, and coming so soon after the loudly disputed goal at the other end, it was hard for the referee to ignore. He pointed to the spot and Abe converted his PK to level the score line.

Just before the halftime break, JEF took the lead on a well-executed counterattack, with Haas breaking up a pass at midfield and Ilya Stoyanov immediately firing a 40-meter lead pass to Satoru Yamagishi, breaking for goal. Yamagishi caught up with the ball just as it crossed into the penalty box, and as he raced towards the left post he suddenly cut the ball back across the face of goal, leaving the keeper stranded and slipping just inside the opposite post.

Both teams played aggressive football in the second half, but JEF maintained the slight edge, threatening to put the contest out of reach on two or three occasions. Some good defensive stops by the keeper, and by Tsuneyasu Miyamoto -- who had to clear one powerful shot by Stoyanov off his goal line -- prevented JEF from adding to their lead. But Gamba were unable to produce much offence of their own, and apart from one or two scrambles in front of net which Gamba failed to finish off effectively, JEF maintained control until the final whistle.

The victory moved JEF United to within a point of Gamba, and two points from the top of the table, adding one more contender to the title race. More importantly, however, it knocked Gamba out of the top spot for the first time since late August, and could deal the killer blow to the team that thought it had the J.League title wrapped up just a month or so ago.

Date: 27 Nov, 2005		Location: Banpaku Stadium
1	1 1H 2 0 2H 0	2
Yasuhito Endo (29')	Scoring	Yuki Abe (33') Satoru Yamaguchi (42')
Yasuhito Endo Hideo Hashimoto	Cautions	Satoru Yamaguchi Takenori Hayashi
Lineups: Yosuke Fujigaya, Sidiclei, Tsuneyasu Miyamoto, Satoru Yamaguchi, Mitsuteru Watanabe (Toshihiro Matsushita 45), Hideo Hashimoto, Yasuhito Endo, Akihiro Ienaga, Shinichi Terada (Masanobu Matsunami 69), Fernandinho, Ryota Miki . Ryo Kushino, Daisuke Saito, Ilya Stoyanov, Koki Mizuno, Masataka Sakamoto, Yuki Abe, Yuto Sato, Satoru Yamagishi (Kozo Yuki 75), Naotake Hanyu (Koji Nakashima 77), Seiichiro Maki, Mario Haas, (Takenori Hayashi 64) .

1 - 1

Not that the flaming pinks really "deserved" a better result. They did play hard, particularly on defence, and gave a very aggressive Marinos team all they could handle. But while Cerezo did create some good scoring chances on the counterattack, it was actually Yokohama who controlled possession for most of this contest and had the better scoring opportunities. Both Rodrigo Gral and Hideo Oshima squandered shots from relatively close range, and just before the break, a blistering shot by Gral was just barely tipped around the right post by keeper Motohiro Yoshida. This kept the match scoreless at half time.

However, just moments after the restart Cerezo got a big break, as defender Ryuji Kawai lost his balance while trying to clear a cross into the Marinos penalty area, toppling to the turf and gifting the ball to Hideaki Morishima. The Cerezo veteran could hardly believe his good fortune as he collected the ball just two paces to the right of the penalty spot and tucked it into the netting while Kawai lay on his back and looked on forlornly.

For the remainder of the contest, the Marinos pressed relentlessly for the equaliser while Cerezo had to exert all their energies just to keep the home team at bay. Yokohama created numerous opportunities, but a magnificent performance in net by Yoshida kept the flaming pinks in the lead until the game clock struck 90. At this point, Cerezo could see from the scoreboard that both Gamba and Kashima were losing their matches, and if they could cling to their lead through the three minutes of added time, they would move three points clear at the top of the table, and extinguish all hope for everyone except Gamba.

But just when it looked like Cerezo were into the clear, the first-place jinx struck them down. A minute into extra time, Hayuma Tanaka lofted a cross into the box as seven Marinos players threw themselves forward on the attack. Magrao headed the ball down, and the Marinos' attacking numbers finally paid off. First Koji Yamase took a swing at the ball, but he missed connections and it skidded just a few feet to the left. Then Oshima took a swing, but his shot hit a Marinos defender and bounded a few feet further to the left. The last man in line, Naoki Matsuda, then made his attempt and his wheeling side kick hit the inside netting at the left post, statching victory away from Cerezo and giving the Marinos a share of the points.

Date: 27 Nov, 2005		Location: Yokohama (Nissan) Std
1	0 1H 0 1 2H 1	1
Hiroaki Morishima (46')	Scoring	Naoki Matsuda (89')
Masahiro Ohashi Magrao	Cautions	Bruno Cuadros Fabinho
Lineups: Tatsuya Enomoto, Yuji Nakazawa, Naoki Matsuda, Ryuji Kawai (Koji Yamase 74), Hayuma Tanaka, Magrao, Yoshiharu Ueno, Dutra, Masahiro Ohashi (Daisuke Nasu 80), Rodrigo Gral (Daisuke Sakata 63), Hideo Oshima . Motohiro Yoshida, Bruno Cuadros, Kota Fujimoto, Hiroshige Yanagimoto, Fabinho, Tomi Shimomura, Kiyokazu Kudo (Hiroshi Miyahara 83), Ze Carlos, Tatsuya Furuhashi, Akinori Nishizawa, Hiroaki Morishima (Noriyuki Sakemoto 80) .

2 - 2

Though Kashima is the only team left in the championship race that has won a league title in the past (they have claimed it four times before), this year's championship trophy is probably as important to them as to any of the other teams in contention. The team's beloved head coach Toninho Cerezo will step down at the end of the year, and there is no question that the Antlers players would like to give him one last piece of silverware as a going-away present. If anyone needed a demonstration of this committment, they got it at the start of the match, when captain Mitsuo Ogasawara gritted his teeth and took his place in the lineup, ignoring a hip injury which, just a week ago, was diagnosed as serious enough to keep him out of action for the rest of the year.

On the other side of the pitch, an equally inspirational performance was provided by veteran Masaaki Sawanobori, who appeared in the starting lineup for his final home match, capping off a magnificent 13-year career as the heart and soul of the S-Pulse team. Of the two, the 35-year-old Sawanobori was clearly in better match condition than Ogasawara, but after struggling to create offence in their last two matches, without him, there was no question that the Antlers benefitted from their midfield playmaker's steadying presence.

Nevertheless, Shimizu S-Pulse had the upper hand early in the match. Though the Wingheads may not have the most impressive historical record in the J.League, there is one area where they have outperformed all other teams. S-Pulse are the only J.League team with a winning record against the Antlers over the league's 13-year history (Albirex Niigata have played the Antlers even, but the two teams have only met four times in their history). This week, the Wingheads were true to form, creating some good early chances and taking the lead on the stroke of the half hour. Takuma Edamura took a long shot from about 35 meters, and sent the ball crashing against the crossbar. The rebound fell right in front of Marquinhos, and since Edamura's shot had frozen the Antlers defence, he was able to step forward and drill a shot into the low left corner before any defenders could intervene.

Kashima drew level just before the break, as Toru Araiba sent in a high cross from the left corner, Takayuki Suzuki headed the ball down a step to the right of the penalty spot, and Takuya Nozawa fired home.

But S-Pulse, needing at least a point to protect themselves from relegation, came out in the second half with a great deal of energy, and took the lead again midway through the period. Again it was Marquinhos who found the target, using his speed to blow past veteran wing back Akira Narahashi on the left flank, then slipping the ball just underneath the keeper's glove as he raced out to cut off the angle. As the clock ticked down towards the end of regulation time, it looked like the Antlers' season was over. But at almost the same moment that the Marinos were scoring their equaliser against Cerezo, the Antlers also got a late strike to salvage a point. Masaki Fukai collected a pass at the top right corner of the penalty area and sent a lovely cross-court lob that slipped into the top left corner of goal.

Date: 27 Nov, 2005		Location: Nihondaira Stadium
2	1 1H 1 1 2H 1	2
Marquinhos (31') Marquinhos (63')	Scoring	Takuya Nozawa (44') Masaki Fukai (88')
Teruyoshi Ito Akihiro Hyodo	Cautions	Mitsuo Ogasawara Fernando
Lineups: Yohei Nishibe, Daisuke Ichikawa, Naoaki Aoyama, Kazumichi Takagi, Takahiro Yamanishi, Masaaki Sawanobori (Kota Sugiyama 69), Takuma Edamura, Teruyoshi Ito, Akihiro Hyodo, Cho Jae-Jin (Yasumasa Nishino 45), Marquinhos . Hitoshi Sogahata, Akira Narahashi (Takeshi Aoki 71), Go Oiwa, Daiki Iwamasa, Keiji Haneda, Toru Araiba, Ricardinho (Takuya Nozawa 37), Fernando, Mitsuo Ogasawara, Masashi Motoyama, Takayuki Suzuki (Masaki Fukai 67), Alex Mineiro .

1 - 0

Urawa had a slight edge in possession, and created a few good scoring chances in the first half, but neither team could find the net or take a decisive advantage until late in the second half. With just over 15 minutes to go, Takashi Fukunishi rashly brought down Robson Ponte on a counterattack and was awarded a straight red card.

With the man advantage, the Reds pressed forward in search of the winning goal, and in the 81 minute, a cross from Nobuhisa Yamada on the right sideline was mishit by defender Kim Jin-Kyu, and ricocheted right into his own net. The Reds would be thankful for this error as they were unable to find the net themselves, but hung on for the victory and a spot in the final frenzy of title competition, next week

Date: 27 Nov, 2005		Location: Saitama Stadium
1	0 1H 0 1 2H 0	0
Own Goal (81')	Scoring
Tomislav Maric Makoto Hasebe	Cautions	Toshihiro Hattori Masashi Nakayama Kim Jin-Kyu
	Sent Off	Takashi Fukunishi
Lineups: Ryota Tsuzuki, Keisuke Tsuboi, Marcus Tulio Tanaka, Satoshi Horinouchi, Nobuhisa Yamada, Keita Suzuki, Makoto Hasebe, Alessandro Santos (Takafumi Akahoshi 72), Robson Ponte, Masayuki Okano (Takuya Yokoyama 69), Tomislav Maric . Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi, Takayuki Chano, Kim Jin-Kyu, Toshihiro Hattori, Yoshiaki Ota, Takashi Fukunishi, Hiroshi Nanami (Keisuke Funatani 81), Shinji Murai, Sho Naruoka, Ryoichi Maeda (Robert Cullen 45), Masashi Nakayama (Nobuo Yamaguchi 74).

5 - 1

Just seconds after the halftime break, Reysol forged ahead once again, as striker Yuji Unozawa headed a long ball down at the top of the penalty arc and Kisho Yano drilled a sizzling shot just underneath the crossbar.

For the next ten minutes, Verdy pushed forward urgently, seeking the equalizer, but as the one hour mark arrives, Tokyo's green vultures suddenly crashed to earth. With Verdy pressing forward in search of a goal, a quick counterattack by Reysol created a three-on-two rush down the left side, and as Harutaka Ono approached the box, he squared the ball to Tomonori Hirayama for the finish. Less than five minutes later, Reysol won a corner kick on the right side and defender Yukio Tsuchiya thundered home a header to put the result beyond doubt. Mitsuru Nagata added one more as time ran down, but by that point it had become academic and the Verdy players could only shake their heads in dismay as they contemplated a season in the J2, next year.

The loss finalizes a result that we have been expecting for weeks. Verdy are now assured of going down to the second division in 2006, while Reysol are locked into the 16th-place spot and a promotion-relegation contest against whoever finishes third in the J2.

Date: 27 Nov, 2005		Location: Kashiwa-no-ha Stadium
5	1 1H 1 4 2H 0	1
Hidekazu Otani (18') Kisho Yano (45') Tomonori Hirayama (57') Yukio Tsuchiya (62') Mitsuru Nagata (85')	Scoring	Yoshiyuki Kobayashi (27')
Yuzo Kobayashi Tadatoshi Masuda Tomonori Hirayama Kisho Yano Tatsuya Yazawa	Cautions	Kazuyuki Toda Kazuki Hiramoto Daigo Kobayashi Jun Tamano Takahito Soma
Lineups: Yuta Minami, Mitsuru Nagata, Yasuhiro Hato, Yukio Tsuchiya (Naoki Ishikawa 86), Tadatoshi Masuda (Tatsuya Yazawa 76), Yuzo Kobayashi, Hidekazu Otani, Tomonori Hirayama, Harutaka Ono, Yuji Unozawa (Lee Chun-Song 81), Kisho Yano . Yoshinari Takagi, Masayuki Yanagisawa, Kenichi Uemura (Jun Tamano 60), Kenta Togawa, Takahito Soma, Takuya Yamada, Kazuyuki Toda (Gilberto "Jill" Goncalves 60), Yoshiyuki Kobayashi (Akira Nurushi 85), Daigo Kobayashi, Washington, Kazuki Hiramoto .

2 - 1

Date: 27 Nov, 2005		Location: Oita "Big Eye" Std.
2	1 1H 1 1 2H 0	1
Masato Yamazaki (16') Teppei Nishiyama (77')	Scoring	Tatsunori Hisanaga (24')
Takashi Miki Yoshihiro Uchimura	Cautions	Jun Marcus Davidson Jun Marcus Davidson
	Sent Off	Jun Marcus Davidson
Lineups: Shusaku Nishikawa, Taikai Uemoto (Yoshihiro Uchimura 45), Takashi Miki, Tomoki Fukaya, Takashi Umeda, Teppei Nishiyama, Edmilson, Takayuki Yoshida (Koji Yoshimura 82), Yuichi Nemoto (Koji Arimura 82), Magno Alves, Masato Yamazaki . Hiroki Aratani, Takuro Nishimura, Toninho, Seiichiro Okuno, Kazuyoshi Mikami (Manabu Wakabayashi 79), Jun Marcus Davidson, Shin Kanazawa (Yasunari Hiraoka 45), Tatsunori Hisanaga, Chikara Fujimoto, Livonir "Tuto" Ruschel (Satoshi Yokoyama 84), Koji Morita .

1 - 1

Frontale got off to a strong start, getting an early goal from Kengo Nakamura and controlling play for most of the first half. However, as the match wore on, Tokyo began to create more opportunities by working the ball down the wings and crossing into the box. With just over ten minutes remaining, one such cross found Sasa Salcedo for a short-range header to equalise the score line. Neither team could add to their tally and they had to settle for an equal share of the spoils.

Date: 27 Nov, 2005		Location: Ajinomoto Stadium
1	0 1H 1 1 2H 0	1
Sasa Salcedo (22')	Scoring	Kengo Nakamura (27')
Akira Kaji Norio Suzuki Ruyuji Fujiyama Sasa Salceco	Cautions
Lineups: Yoichi Doi, Akira Kaji (Jo Kanazawa 75), Jean Carlo Witte, Teruaki Moniwa, Ryuji Fujiyama, Yohei Kajiyama (Masashi Miyazawa 70), Yasuyuki Konno, Norio Suzuki, Ryoichi Kurisawa (Mitsuhiro Toda 74), Sasa Salcedo, Yoshiro Abe . Takashi Aizawa, Yoshinobu Minowa, Shuhei Terada, Hiroki Ito, Naoki Soma (Tomoaki Kuno 87), Kengo Nakamura, Hiroyuki Taniguchi (Hideki Sahara 67), Augusto de Souza, Marcus de Morais, Kazuki Ganaha (Masaru Kurotsu 86), Juninho .

0 - 1

This week's match was primarily a defensive affair, though the main reason why neither team could score in the first half was their own lack of concentration on offence. The number of wayward passes in the first half was particularly distressing, and both Urawa and JEF United will no doubt be hoping that these two teams perform with as little intensity next week as they did in this contest. The lone goal came shortly after the start of the second half, when Albirex won a free kick nearly 40 meters out from goal. Anderson Lima took the kick and sent a thunderous, swerving shot into the low right corner which just barely eluded the keeper and snuck inside the post.

Date: 27 Nov, 2005		Location: Mizuho Stadium
0	0 1H 0 0 2H 1	1
	Scoring	Anderson Lima (49')
Makoto Kakuda Yutaka Akita Yusuke Igawa Sho Kamogawa	Cautions	Naoya Kikuchi Ashiya Tanaka Daisuke Fujii
Lineups: Eiji Kawashima, An Yong-Ha, Yutaka Akita, Yusuke Igawa, Makoto Kakuda, Keiji Yoshimura (Kei Yamaguchi 70), Naoshi Nakamura, Sho Kamogawa, Keisuke Honda, Toshiya Fujita, Yohei Toyoda (Takahiro Masukawa 75) . Koichi Kidera, Daisuke Fujii, Keiji Kaimoto, Shigenori Hagimura, Naoya Kikuchi (Hiroyoshi Kuwahara 76), Isao Honma, Ashiya Tanaka (Tetsuya Okayama 61), Yohito Terakawa, Anderson Lima, Edmilson (Yusaku Ueno 8 89), Fabinho .

2 - 3

Shortly after the break, the home fans were on their feet in celebration, when defender Kunie Kitamoto pushed forward in support of the attack, and dashed onto a bounding ball in the penalty box to drill it home with his right foot. For a moment it looked like Vissel might be on the road to only their second win since July.

But Yuji Komano, a rapidly rising prospect for the national team at right wing, was having a fine afternoon on both ends, and with 15 minutes left he made a surging run down the flank, then fired a pinpoint cross onto the head of Sato, who nodded it back into the right side netting for his second goal of the match.

Kobe still kept their spirits up, pushing for another goal, as as time ran down to the 90 minute mark, both the players and the home fans seemed ready to console themselves that even one point would be an accomplishment. After all, the team had claimed only one point in the past three months, losing seven of its last eight contests.

It was not to be. A minute into injury time, Sanfrecce got another break down the wing, this time on the left side, and as the cross came in, who was there to meet it by Hisato Sato. The diminutive striker managed to leap over Vissel's central defender, Kitamoto, and headed the ball into the netting to complete his hat trick and establish himself as the top-scoring Japanese player in the J.League.

For Vissel fans, the end of the season cant come soon enough. . . .

Date: 27 Nov, 2005		Location: Kobe Wing Stadium
2	1 1H 1 1 2H 2	3
Keisuke Kurihara (41') Kunie Kitamoto (54')	Scoring	Hisato Sato (31') Hisato Sato (72') Hisato Sato (89')
Shusuke Tsubouchi Kazutaka Murase Ryuhei Niwa	Cautions
Lineups: Seiji Honda, Hiroyuki Komoto, Kunie Kitamoto, Naoya Saeki, Park Kang-Jo (Noriaki Ishizawa 62), Shusuke Tsubouchi, Ryuhei Niwa, Akihiro Endo, Keisuke Kurihara (Sho Kitano 75), Ryuji Bando, Kazutaka Murase . Akihiro Sato, Yuichi Komano, Dininho (Shogo Nishikawa 64), Norio Omura, Kota Hattori, Ri Han-Jae, Shinichiro Kuwata(Shunsuke Maeda 62), Kazuyuki Morisaki, Joubert "Beto" Martins, Susumu Oki (Galvao 74), Hayato Sato .

As we noted at the top, the results of this weekend create a truly remarkable, high-suspense scenario for the final week of the season. Any one of five teams could walk away with the title this year, though clearly Cerezo now have the inside track, needing only to win their final match against FC Tokyo in order to claim the trophy. Gamba, who have led the pack since late summer, now find themselves one point behind, needing not only to win their own match against Kawasaki Frontale, but also a loss or draw from Cerezo. If both Osaka teams slip up, the next candidate in line would be Urawa Reds, who have a better goal difference than either Kashima Antlers or JEF United. The Reds' final match is away to Albirex Niigata. The Antlers have the easiest opponent on the final day, playing Kashiwa Reysol at home. But they need losses by Cerezo and Gamba, and a draw or worse from the Reds in order to move into first place. JEF is the biggest long-shot of them all, needing to win their home match against Nagoya Grampus while both Osaka teams lose and the Antlers and Reds do no better than draw.

At the other end of the table, the relegation positions have already been allocated. Vissel Kobe and Tokyo Verdy will be relegated to the J2 next season, while Kashiwa Reysol's fate will be decided in a home-and-away promotion-relegation contest against the team that finishes third in the J2.

J2 Promotion Hopefuls Battle to the Wire

Here are the J2 standings with one week to go:

Will JFL Crown Remain in Shikoku?

Well, perhaps we dont give the gods of fate enough credit. They say that Shikoku has more shrines to Ebisu (the god of luck) than any other region of Japan, and it certainly does seem to be paying off. Going into the final two weeks of the season, YKK AP held a narrow lead at the top of the table, and its final two matches were against the two weakest teams in the JFL. Ehime FC, on the other hand, had a tough away test against Honda FC scheduled for this weekend. Against the odds, tiny Honda Lock held YKK to a draw and claimed only their 15th point from 29 matches. Meanwhile, Ehime FC conceded a goal to Honda at the end of the first half, but came roaring back with three strikes in the final 15 minutes to leapfrog into first place!

Last year, the JFL champions were another club from the island of Shikoku -- Otsuka Tokushima, whose title earned them promotion to the J2. The team changed its name to Tokushima Vortis, and has turned in a very creditable performance in its first season as a professional team. Now it appears that Tokushima's next-door neighbour, Ehime, is on the verge of winning the JFL title and keeping the trophy in Kyushu for a second consecutive year. Next week, the team can expect a huge crowd at its final home match of the season, as the Terrible Tangerines try to lock up the league crown and await word from the J.League on their bid for promotion.

Here are the JFL standings with one week to go:

Amateur Action -- Four Aspirants Advance

The first round of matches were played this weekend, and the results provide a demonstration of how strong the local leagues in southern and western Japan have become. Two teams from Kyushu and one from Kobe were among the four pool winners, who will advance to the championship round next weekend. Here are the scores from the pool round, followed by the final standings in each pool.