The Eneos Sunflowers may have extended their All-Japan Championship title streak to eight straight, but that wasn’t the biggest news of the day.
What captured more attention was how they secured this latest Empress Cup while playing without star Ramu Tokashiki and a few other core players.
The team lost Tokashiki during the quarterfinals Wednesday, with the center/forward suffering an ACL tear — an injury that may also have a major effect on the national team’s pursuit of gold at the Tokyo Olympics next summer.