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Better late than never, the 2022 Men's and Women's national championships for Japan begin this Sunday Japan time (May 22).

The vast majority of games will be streamed live on Youtube. Official schedule and links available from the JCA website:

https://japan-curling.jp/schedule/

Here's the Google Translate version, which should give you an idea of the teams playing, but I can't guarantee that it won't do something funny with the Youtube links:

https://japan--curling-jp.translate...&_x_tr_pto=wapp

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Was just looking through the teams and noticed a few interesting lineups. Yuta Matsumura is no longer listed with Team Consodole and isn’t playing in the event at all. Also, Tori Koana is listed as the alternate on her team after skipping the last few years…

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quote:

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Originally posted by FleuryFan
Was just looking through the teams and noticed a few interesting lineups. Yuta Matsumura is no longer listed with Team Consodole and isn’t playing in the event at all. Also, Tori Koana is listed as the alternate on her team after skipping the last few years…

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Last edited by hailstone on 05-19-22 at 11:49PM

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Is this event not covered by CZ? I had fun watching the WC games and will be following/watching all that I can.

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Loco Solare has almost as many people behind the ice as they have on it. In addition to their regular coach Ryuji Onodera, there is newly added assistant coach (and former skip of Consadole) Yuta Matsumura. and reserve Kotomi Ishizaki, who is essentially another coach for this team.

Unfortunately, all the coaches in the world can't help Fujisawa make her shots. She has esentially gifted Chubu Electric both of their twos, and their 4-3 halftime lead.

This looks to be a rebuilding year for Fortuis, Hokkaido Bank, and the suddenly Koana-less Fujikyu, but all are currently holding their own against lesser competition.

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Well covered event; I love the multiple feeds.

If anyone wants to know the score (there doesn't seem to be any CZ volunteers?), they can be found here:

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/sports/special/curling/jcc2022/

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Fujisawa definitely picked up her game in the second half. Maybe she prefers not having the hammer, but three times she forced Kitazawa into throwing a very difficult shot that she couldn't convert, resulting in the steal and the win.

They definitely picked the right game to televise, but it was essentially a practice game, as I'm 90% sure these two teams will be playing in the finals.

No more televised games today, so the remaining eight games will all be available on Youtube.

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Expected results in the first women’s draw I would say. Also, another interesting fact is that the winner of this event will rep Japan at the newly created Pan-Continental Cup next season. Should be interesting!

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quote:

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Originally posted by FleuryFan
Japan at the newly created Pan-Continental Cup

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That alone will be very different. In the final 10 years of the Pac-Asia tournament, all of the champions and 90% of the medals went to just three countries: China, South Korea, and Japan. The days of total domination for those three nations are now gone.

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Perhaps some upsets on the men's side. Nagano CA, the team that bounced TM Karuizawa out of Nationals, is getting destroyed by Sapporo International 8-2 after 6 ends.

Not a good start for either of the Chubu region representatives, as champion SC Karuizawa is currently tied with Team Ishimura from Aomori 3-3 after 6.

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quote:

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Originally posted by MeaghanEdwards
If anyone wants to know the score (there doesn't seem to be any CZ volunteers?)

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quote:

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Originally posted by hailstone

Looks like scores are up here now (provided your knowledge of Japanese curler last names is up to snuff)

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quote:

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Originally posted by hailstone
That alone will be very different. [...] The days of total domination for those three nations are now gone.

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Moving back to the topic of this thread, highlights of today's stream coverage include SC Karuizawa men vs the newly Matsumura-less Consadole (9:00am Japan time), a bunch of lopsided women's matches from 13:30, and from 18:00, a re-match of last season's men's final between Consadole and Tokoro Jr.

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Some men's results this morning that I would consider upsets. Defending champions Consadole mostly controlled their match with SC Karuizawa, but gave up a big end of 4 in the 8th, and SC Karuizawa held on for what I believe is their first ever win over that team. Last year's runners up Tokoro Jr. also lost control in the second half and dropped their game to Sapporo International University. One of those two teams will lose twice today, as Consadole and Tokoro Jr. face each other this evening.

Nagano CA also got crushed by Team Ishimura, a result I definitely was't expecting.

This is the most wide open men's competition I can remember. Not a single team is a lock to qualify at this point. Unfortunately, it's the result of top teams getting weaker and catching up to the lower teams than the other way around.

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If you'd like to learn more about the players, NHK has compiled a profile for each team, and Google Translate works good enough with it:

https://www3-nhk-or-jp.translate.go...&_x_tr_pto=wapp

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quote:

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Originally posted by hailstone
If you'd like to learn more about the players, NHK has compiled a profile for each team, and Google Translate works good enough with it:

https://www3-nhk-or-jp.translate.go...&_x_tr_pto=wapp

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What happened with Team Yoshimura this season? First, they hardly played in any events, I think they only played in the PACC. They also represented Hokkaido Bank Fortius last year, but now they are only Fortius and another team is Hokkaido Bank. What happened there?

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I think the details are in the Team Changes thread, but basically the contracts with the players and Hokkaido Bank expired. Yoshimura's faction left to form their own team Fortuis, while Hokkaido Bank re-signed the rest and added players to fill our their own team. Fortuis is considered the lineal successor to last year's team, so they received the automatic birth from last year's Nationals championship, while Hokkaido Bank had to qualify by winning the Hokkaido block.

Thusfar, Fortuis has not been very...uh, fortunate. Yesterday against Chubu Electric they got themselves into a big hole before going just short of pulling themselves out of it. Then today, Yoshimura suffered a series of meltdowns in a very winnable game with Fujikyu, culminating in an seventh end where, lying two and with a fairly straight forward draw for three, she was so far off that she ended up promoting a Fujikyu stone onto the button for an own goal.

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/sports/movie/eGFRaYgFoUc0CD/

Really don't see any women's team that can prevent a Fujisawa vs Kitazawa final.

Last edited by hailstone on 05-23-22 at 03:47AM

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In just a few minutes, we get the long awaited game between breakaway Fortuis and Hokkaido Bank. Unfortunately, that's the televised game, but the rest of the world gets to see a Loco Solare match with commentary among others.

Nothing particularly appealing with the afternoon men's session. I guess I'll go with Sapparo International University's match, as they are now my pick to win it all.

In the evening women's session, we have two "Big 4" (?) matchups, as Loco Solare faces Fujikyu, and Chubu Electric plays Hokkaido Bank.

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In the battle of the current and former Hokkaido Bank teams, Fortuis broke open a tight affair with a nice split for three in the seventh, and held on for an 8-6 win.

Loco Solare let the Sapporo Association team back into their match when Fujisawa gave up a steal of three with an errant shot in the seventh, and had to make a takeout of a stone on the wing with her final shot to avoid the upset. Fujikyu was not as lucky, getting absolutely crushed by the SC Karuizawa ladies team 9-1, seven of those points coming on steals.

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Somebody forgot to tell Hokkaido Bank that this was a rebuilding year, as their young team leads Worlds representative Chubu Electric by three with the hammer in the final end. A win would put Hokkaido Bank at 4-1, and in a very good position to knock one of the "Strong Four" out of a playoff spot.

If everything else plays out as expected, then Loco Solare would lead at 4-0, followed by Hokkaido Bank at 4-1, then Fortius at 3-2. Fujikyu and Chubu Electric would be 2-2, and one of the two would be guaranteed to lose when they play each other

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Enjoyable event to watch. I'm pulling for LOCOSOLARE and Consadore to get the win here. It's great having multiple sheets being streamed.

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Agreed, great event to watch! On the mens side I’m also pulling for Consodole while on the womens I’d be fine with any three of Loco Solare, Fortius or Chubu Electric Power taking the crown!

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