JAPAN WHEN Brazilian international Leonardo made a tearful farewell to Kashima Antlers fans before joining Paris St Germain in July, the club must have thought it was the end of the world. After all, Leonardo had teased and tormented opposition defenders for two years with his Sao Paulo-honed South American skills. But, after two rounds of the second stage of the J.League, Antlers find themselves on top thanks to victories over Jef United and Gamba Osaka. Antlers are no strangers to life at the top of the table; after all, with legendary Brazilian Zico in the ranks, they won the first stage of the inaugural J.League season in 1993, only to lose the championship play-off to second-stage winners Verdy Kawasaki. After 17 rounds of this fourth J.League season, Antlers have 38 points but no fewer than five clubs are within two points of the leaders. Urawa Red Diamonds and Jubilo Iwata have 37 points and are followed by Kashiwa Reysol, Nagoya Grampus Eight and Yokohama Flugels, all of whom have 36. These top six clubs have all won 12 and lost five of their 17 games. There are no draws in the J.League. If the scores are level after 90 minutes, teams play 30 minutes of sudden-death extra-time, followed by a penalty shootout if necessary. The winners collect three points, while the losers in a penalty shootout receive one point. Antlers' most recent success was a 1-0 victory away to Gamba Osaka, thanks to a 57th-minute goal from 19-year-old Atsushi Yanagisawa. Verdy Kawasaki, champions in 1993 and 1994, recovered from a 2-0 deficit to beat Yokohama Flugels 3-2. Flugels led the table after 15 rounds but are now sixth after two defeats. 'It's great to win it from 2-0 down,' said Verdy's Brazilian coach Emerson Leao, a former national team goalkeeper. Brazilian newcomer Magrao, who joined Verdy as a replacement for Benfica-bound Donizete, nodded in his third goal in two games in the 76th minute to spark his side's late onslaught. Substitute Shintetsu Gen grabbed the equaliser in the 88th minute and a minute later national team stalwart Tsuyoshi Kitazawa shot home the winner. Elsewhere, Jubilo Iwata stretched Kyoto Purple Sanga's losing streak to 17 in a row with a 2-1 victory. CHINA DALIAN took a giant step towards regaining the Marlboro League title as they thrashed struggling Shenzhen and their nearest rivals, Guangzhou Apollo and Shanghai, were both held to a draw. In the 14th round of league matches, Dalian beat Shenzhen 5-2 in front of 30,000 fans at the 35,000-capacity City Sports Stadium. The victory moved them on to 32 points, eight clear of second-placed Apollo, who drew 1-1 with Guangdong, and nine ahead of third-placed Shanghai, who picked up a point from a 2-2 draw with Tianjin. The match between Shanghai, the defending league champions, and Tianjin attracted 27,000 fans to the Shanghai Hongkou Stadium, only 1,000 below capacity. Dalian, from Liaoning province in northeast China, won the inaugural professional Chinese League in 1994. HONG KONG THE Hong Kong First Division season kicks off tomorrow (Saturday) with the traditional opening-day fixture between last season's champions and runners-up. On this occasion it's Instant-Dict (champions) against South China (runners-up) at the Hong Kong Stadium in a repeat of their championship play-off match last season which Instant won 1-0 to claim the league title for the first time. The other five teams in the top flight are Happy Valley, Rangers, Eastern, Sing Tao and Golden. Of these, Sing Tao look the most likely to challenge the top two and appear to have the best new foreign import in Welsh international Glyn Hodges, whose previous clubs include Wimbledon, Newcastle United, Watford and Sheffield United. South China start the campaign with striker Dale Tempest back in the forward line for the first time in five seasons. Tempest, formerly with Fulham, Huddersfield Town and Colchester United in England, joined South China in 1989 and won the league with them in 1990 and 1991. He also picked up three league championships with Eastern, from 1993-95 before returning to the Caroliners in the summer.