CurlingZone: Fujisawa undefeated en route to third ADVICS Cup title

Loco Solare's Satsuki Fujisawa (Photo: Hokkaido Curling Tour) defended their title at the ADVICS Cup in grand fashion, going undefeated to win the event for a third time.

By: Cameron Sallaj

The ADVICS Cup has been held in Kitami three times and so far, there has only been one women's championship team: Loco Solare.

Fujisawa and her teammates Chinami Yoshida, Yumi Suzuki, Yurika Yoshida, and Kotomi Ishizaki were on a tear this weekend in the team's home city, winning all four of their matches to defend their title from 2019 and 2022.

In the final, the fan favorite team went up against their main challengers in Japan in Chubu Electric Power's Ikue Kitazawa from Nagano. The two teams have been at odds for seasons, with Fujisawa holding a 6-1 win-loss record since the 2021-22 season.

Team Kitazawa opened the game with the hammer and made good use of it with their final shot. Facing a Fujisawa counter sandwiched on the button, Ikue Kitazawa executed a perfect runback double takeout to count two for her team to begin the final on the right foot.

Despite the setback from the first, Team Fujisawa played a strong second end, allowing Satsuki an open hit on her last to count three and put her team in the lead. Team Kitazawa would tie things up with a single in the third.

From the fourth end on, the rest of the match was controlled by Loco Solare. After scoring two in the fourth, the Olympic silver medalists stole singles in the fifth, sixth, and seventh ends. Chubu Electric then conceded, with a final score of 8-3.

With the win, Team Fujisawa takes home 1,000,000 yen of the 1,700,000 purse while Team Kitazawa earns 500,000 yen. In the third-place game, Hokkaido Bank's Momoha Tabata won 7-5 over STRAHL (Mayu Minami) to earn 150,000 while Minami gets 50,000 for fourth. Of note, Fortius' Sayaka Yoshimura, who won the first two events of the season, missed the playoffs with a 3-3 record.

Loco Solare will be back in action in two weeks time as the team competes in the Saville Shoot-out event in Edmonton. In their pool, the Japanese team will face the likes of Kaitlyn Lawes, Corryn Brown, Sarah Anderson, and Michelle Hartwell.

Watch the replay of the 2023 ADVICS Cup final between Loco Solare (Satsuki Fujisawa) and Chubu Electric Power (Ikue Kitazawa):

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