Step one is done for Team Yoshimura and Team Yamaguchi.
Yoshimura and Yamaguchi emerged victorious at the Japanese Olympic curling trials this weekend in Wakkanai.
Before they can punch their tickets to the 2026 Winter Games, both teams will have to secure their berths at the Olympic Qualification Event. The last-chance tournament, taking place Dec. 6-13 in Kelowna, B.C., will send the final two men’s teams and two women’s teams to Milan-Cortina.
Yoshimura, ranked No. 8 in the world on the women’s side, and Yamaguchi, No. 25 in the men’s rankings, should advance, but nothing is guaranteed, especially when you have the likes of the United States and China on the men’s side, plus Norway and the United States on the women’s side, vying for spots as well.
Team Yoshimura came from behind to earn the right to represent Japan. The women’s division featured a three-team double round-robin between Team Fujisawa, Team Ueno and Team Yoshimura. Given the tough competition, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that all three teams posted identical 2-2 records in the double round-robin. Yoshimura started 0-2 before winning two straight to stay in the mix and force the logjam.
Ueno advanced to the final based on a superior draw shot challenge total, while Team Yoshimura eliminated Team Fujisawa 7-2 in a tiebreaker. That ended Fujisawa’s hopes of a third consecutive Winter Olympics, with the team looking to take the top step on the podium after winning bronze in 2018 and silver in 2022.
Since round-robin records carried over, the best-of-five final was essentially a best-of-three. Ueno came out strong to start, with a convincing 11-3 win Saturday. On the brink of elimination again and Olympic dreams on the line, Yoshimura bounced back once more, winning Sunday’s games by the narrowest of margins: 7-6 and 6-5.
Skip Sayaka Yoshimura, second Yuna Kotani and alternate Mina Kobayashi look to play in their first Winter Games. Third Kaho Onodera competed in Sochi in 2014 with skip Ayumi Ogasawara’s team, while lead Anna Ohmiya competed in Vancouver in 2010 with skip Moe Meguro.
The one member of the team with the most Olympic experience is coach Niklas Edin, who will compete in his fifth consecutive Winter Games on the men’s side in Milan-Cortina and has won a medal of every colour, including gold last time out in Beijing in 2022.
Meanwhile, Team Yamaguchi won the best-of-five men’s trials 3-1 against Team Abe.
Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi, who skips and throws third, competed in the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang while throwing second for Yusuke Morozumi. Fourth Riku Yanagisawa, second Takeru Yamamoto and lead Satoshi Koizumi are looking to play in their first.
AloJapan.com