CurlingZone: Fujisawa notches first win at Players'

Japan's Team Satsuki Fujisawa (Photo: Anil Mungal/GSOC) are on the board following a sudden death victory over Gim Eun-ji.

By: Cameron Sallaj

In an early elimination match at the 2025 AMJ Players' Championship, Satsuki Fujisawa and her Japanese squad squared off against Gim Eun-ji's Korean team in a must-win battle for both sides. Having each dropped their first two games of the event, a win was imperative to keep the playoff picture within reach.

It was Gim's side who got on the board first, taking a pair in the opening end. This margin was quickly shut by Fujisawa who got one in the second and stole one in the third. The Koreans got one back in four to inch ahead 3-2.

A perfect raise by Fujisawa on her last in five gave the Japanese their first lead of the game. They then forced Gim to just one in six, tying the game at four all.

Facing three on her last rock in seven, Satsuki Fujisawa found the button to go ahead once again. In eight, it was Gim Eun-ji who faced a similar situation but also found the four-foot, sending the game into an extra end.

A dicey setup in nine for the Japanese opened the door for Gim to close down the scoring area with her last rock. Her final draw slid too far, however, allowing Fujisawa a draw with backing for the win. After a measurement, it was confirmed to be one for the reigning Olympic silver medalists who took a narrow 6-5 win to stay alive.

The 2024-25 season has been very good for Team Fujisawa who currently sit seventh in the world rankings. In sixteen events played, the team has only missed the playoffs one time. They have also reached three Grand Slam quarterfinals and one semifinal. Despite not winning the Japanese championship, the team is still qualified for the three-team Olympic Trials at the beginning of the 2025-26 season, and event they are looking to win for a third straight cycle.

Now 1-2, the road is still quite tough to qualify for Fujisawa who now face undefeated Silvana Tirinzoni and Anna Hasselborg. For Gim, now 0-3, they will need to win both their remaining matches against Momoha Tabata and Ha Seung-youn and hope for positive results for any chance at a tiebreaker.

In other Wednesday morning scores, Team Kerri Einarson (2-1; Gimli, MB) bounced back into the win column with an 8-5 victory over Team Xenia Schwaller (0-3; Zurich, SUI). Team Brad Jacobs (2-1; Edmonton, AB) were also winners 5-4 over Team Joel Retornaz (0-3; Cembra, ITA) while Team Marc Muskatewitz recorded their first win 5-4 over Team Ross Whyte (1-2; Stirling, SCO).

The next draw from the 2025 AMJ Players' Championship gets underway at 11:30 am ET with streaming of every game available on HomeTeamLive.

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