WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC: TOURNEY OPENS IN TOKYO.

Byline: Jill Painter Staff Writer

The Olympics are over, but the World Baseball Classic is just starting. The 16-team tournament, featuring some of the world's best players, started early today in Tokyo.

Korea, Japan, China and Chinese Taipei play in the first pool of the first round, which is a round-robin format. The teams feature several big names, including Ichiro Suzuki, the Seattle Mariners star who will play for his native country, Japan.

Japan has some of the best pitchers in the tournament, most notably Daisuke Matsuzaka, who has a 98-mph fastball. Japan is considered a contender for the title although the Dominican Republic, Cuba and Venezuela are the favorites. Yankees outfielder Hideki Matsui elected not to play for Japan in the WBC.

Korea should provide plenty of offensive power and has plenty of major-league talent with Dodgers Hee-Seop Choi and Jae-Weong Seo, as well as Chan-Ho Park and Sun-Woo Kim. Seo, Park and Kim are expected to be the starters. Japan will play Korea on Sunday in what is expected to be the biggest game in the pool.

China's biggest baseball star, Sun Lingfeng, will play center field and has a chance to showcase his talents on an international level. China is managed by former Dodger Jim Lefebvre, who previously managed the Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Brewers and Seattle Mariners.

Chinese Taipei has strong pitching, but is lacking on offense. Outfielder Chin-Feng Chen, who played mostly in the Dodgers' minor-league system, was the first player from Taiwan to play in Major League Baseball and will play in the WBC.

The U.S. team, which plays in a pool with Mexico, Canada and South Africa, practices today for the first time in Phoenix. The U.S. will play its first game Tuesday against Mexico.

Jill Painter, [phone]

jill.painter(at)dailynews.com

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WBC: SEO, PARK LEAD KOREA