 Chubu Electric Power (Photo: Hokkaido Curling Tour) scored two in the eighth end to dethrone Fortius at the Wakkanai Midori Challenge Cup. By: Cameron Sallaj In the women's event final in Wakkanai, Ikue Kitazawa and her two-time Japanese championship squad took on the two-time defending champion of the Wakkanai Midori Challenge Cup in Fortius' Sayaka Yoshimura. With both teams sitting just outside the top sixteen in the world rankings, the victory would add crucial points towards qualification for the Grand Slam Tier 1 events. Beginning with the hammer, Yoshimura and her team of Yuna Kotani, Kaho Onodera, Anna Ohmiya and Mina Kobayashi nosed a blank attempt in the first end, giving them the first point of the game. On her last rock of the second, Kitazawa had a chance to put three on the board for her team with a double takeout, however, her stone overcurled, only managing to score one to level the score. The Nagano rink then stole one in the third after Sayaka Yoshimura final runback attempt undercurled, giving them a 2-1 advantage. Needing another runback to score in the fourth end, Yoshimura connected with the stone on the button, pushing it just far enough to count one and tie the score once again at two-all. Then in five, they forced Chubu Electric Power to count just one point, giving them a narrow 3-2 lead with three ends remaining. A strong sixth end by the Sapporo based Yoshimura squad allowed the skip to play an open hit for two, the first multi-point end of the game. This gave her team their first lead since the first end, going up 4-3. Team Kitazawa then blanked the seventh end to retain the hammer coming home. Good stone placement by the Nagano team forced Yoshimura into a difficult draw to keep the game alive. Unfortunately, her stone slipped too far and Kitazawa did not have to throw her final stone as she already sat the two points needed to clinch the victory. Chubu Electric Power, consisting of Ikue Kitazawa, Seina Nakajima, Ami Enami, Minori Suzuki and Hasumi Ishigooka takes home 1,000,000 yen as a first-place reward while Fortius earns 500,000 for their second-place effort. Team Kitazawa is no stranger to the international curling scene. They have made two trips to the World Women's Championship in 2019 and 2022, finishing fourth in their first appearance and seventh in their second. They also led Japan to a silver medal performance 2019 Pacific-Asia Curling Championships and have won many Canadian tour events over the past decade. After going undefeated to claim their first tour title, the Chubu Electric Power team will try to build on this momentum in the next two events of the Hokkaido Curling Tour before travelling West to Canada to compete in Ontario, Alberta and Manitoba. After a bronze medal finish at last year's national championship, the Kitazawa rink is looking to reclaim their spot atop the podium where they last stood in 2019. Wakkanai Midori Challenge Cup - Women's Final - Yoshimura vs Kitazawa: |
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