 Sapporo's Team Sayaka Yoshimura (Photo: HBCC) repeat as Hokkaido Bank champions for a second year in a row. By: Cameron Sallaj The 2021 Japanese champions Team Sayaka Yoshimura came out of the gate hot to begin the 2023-24 season. At the 2023 Hokkaido Bank Curling Classic, the team was the class of the field, winning all six of their games to the first back-to-back champions on the women's side. In the championship game, the team battled Hokkaido Bank's Momoha Tabata rink. The Yoshimura rink had a lineup adjustment that they will keep for the majority of the 2023-24 season as skip Sayaka Yoshimura is expecting her first child in December. Because of this, she moved to the alternate spot while the rest of the team of third Yuna Kotani, second Kaho Onodera, lead Anna Ohmiya, and alternate Mina Kobayashi each moved up the lineup a position. The team's previous lead, Yumie Funayama, has moved into a coaching role. Team Yoshimura, going under the name "Fortius" in Japan started the game with hammer and blanked the opening end. In the second, the team was able to keep a split house for the majority of the end, eventually allowing Yuna Kotani an open draw to the house to count two points to open the scoring. The Hokkaido Bank rink, with skip Momoha Tabata, third Miku Nihira, second Sae Yamamoto, lead Mikoto Nakajima, and alternate Ayami Ito were in good position to get a score of two back in the third end before a perfect hit-and-roll by Kotani on her final stone. This forced Tabata to a long double to count the two points, which she couldn't connect, resulting in a steal of one for the Fortius rink. Things got even better for the Fortius rink in the fourth end. Facing three counters on her last, Tabata's final draw sailed through the house, allowing Team Yoshimura to open up a 6-0 lead at the midway point of the match. Despite the six-point deficit, Tabata's Hokkaido Bank side continued to fight, scoring a single point in the fifth end and managing a steal of one in the sixth to cut Yoshimura's lead down to just four points. In the seventh, Yuna Kotani secured the victory for her team with an open takeout to count one point and defeat Hokkaido Bank by a final score of 7-2. The 2023-24 season marks the first full season for the new Fortius side, with Yuna Kotani joining the team halfway through the 2022-23 season. After being a consistent Slam team during the 2018 and 2019 seasons, Team Yoshimura has fallen in the rankings, currently sitting 22nd in the world. With the win in Sapporo, the team is likely to move up a few positions with a spot back in the Slam series on the horizon. Fortius is currently registered in three Canadian tour events including the Stu Sells Oakville Tankard, the AMJ Campbell Shorty Jenkins Classic, and the Saville Grand Prix. The Tabata rink currently sits at 74th in the world and is the 6th ranked team in Japan. They will also head to Canada for a lengthy visit which includes tour stops in Edmonton, Kitchener-Waterloo, Vernon, and Calgary. The third-place game in Sapporo saw Japan's second ranked team, Chubu Electric Power, skipped by Ikue Kitazawa shutout Philoseek Aomori's Miori Nakamura 6-0. Kitazawa was upset 6-5 in the semifinals by Hokkaido Bank while Nakamura fell 7-6 to Fortius in the other. Watch the replay of the 2023 Hokkaido Bank Curling Classic women's final between Hokkaido Bank (Momoha Tabata) and Fortius (Sayaka Yoshimura): |
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Stefania Constantini and Amos Mosaner (Photo: Stephen Fisher/World Curling) claim Italy's first World Mixed Doubles Championship crown.
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