Baseball, softball among 8 sports shortlisted for 2020 Games
 TOKYO (AP) – The combined bid of baseball and softball are among eight sports shortlisted for inclusion in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Tokyo Olympic organizers on Monday selected the eight from a list of 26 sports that had applied for inclusion.
The other sports shortlisted are bowling, karate, roller sports, sport climbing, squash, surfing and wushu.
Baseball and women’s softball was considered a favorite because of the popularity of those sports in Japan.
The federations of the eight sports will next make a presentation in Tokyo on Aug. 7-8, and organizers will make recommendations for inclusion to the International Olympic Committee by Sept. 30.
The IOC will make a final decision on which sports will be added in August 2016, when it meets ahead of the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Â
(Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
Â
