CurlingZone: Fujisawa holds on for victory over Einarson

Japan's Satsuki Fujisawa (Photo: Anil Mungal/GSOC) survived a must win game to keep themselves alive in Tahoe.

By: Cameron Sallaj

There was lots to smile for Team Fujisawa Friday afternoon at the Tahoe Blue Event Center as they kept themselves apart of the playoff mix at the KIOTI GSOC Tahoe. Entering the game at 1-2, the team needed an outright win over Gimli's Kerri Einarson (2-1) for any chance at advancing.

It was a strong start for the Japanese squad of Fujisawa, Chinami Yoshida, Yumi Suzuki and Yurika Yoshida, who opened the game with a count of two in the opening end. They were then able to steal one in the second end to go up by three.

Einarson found her way onto the board in the third end, scoring two. This was immediately matched by Team Fujisawa, however, who led 5-2 at the break.

Good rock placement by Team Einarson in the fifth allowed Kerri an open shot to score three which she did not miss, tying the score. The Japanese bounced back quickly though, taking their third deuce of the game to go ahead with two ends left to play.

Electing to keep the seventh end wide open and take the hammer into the eighth, Team Einarson had to switch gears after Satsuki Fujisawa flashed an open takeout on her final rock of the end. Instead of peeling their own stone and taking the blank, the Canadian team chose to score two and tie the score with one end remaining, a decision that was questioned by commentators Jennifer Jones and Kevin Martin.

In the eighth, Team Fujisawa did not have to throw their final stone after Einarson's double attempt jammed. The Japanese rink took an 8-7 win from the game and earned a crucial three points to keep themselves in the mix.

With the win, not only does Team Fujisawa move to an even 2-2, they also bring Team Einarson back to 2-2. Currently with the better shootout, Fujisawa may be able to directly advance to the quarterfinals without the need of a tiebreaker game, pending the results of the final draw of the night.

The next draw from the KIOTI GSOC Tahoe gets underway at 7:30 PM PT with Bruce Mouat and Jared Allen set for the Sportsnet featured game. All other games can be found on The Rock Channel or by clicking the red play buttons next to each game on CurlingZone.

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