Fujisawa ousted early, Yanagisawa loses final

Fresh faces will wear Team Japan curling jerseys at the upcoming women’s and men’s world championships.

Miyu Ueno led her Karuizawa teammates to the 2024 Japan women’s title over Hokkaido’s Miku Nihira by scoring two in the final end for a 6-5 victory in Sapporo.

The defending champions, the now legendary Satsuki Fujisawa squad, didn’t make it to the semifinals, losing to Ikue Kitizawa 7-4 to finish fourth. 

Fujisawa’s last game was tied 4-4 in the ninth end when Kitizawa was forced to one, before she stole a pair in the 10th end. Kitizawa took the bronze.

Ueno and her sister Yui won Japan’s first-ever world championship title—in any discipline, gender or age group—in 2022, when they defeated hosts Sweden 7-4 in a historic world junior final at Jonkoping.

Junko Nishimuro is the veteran on the youthful Ueno foursome. Nishimuro competed at the 2006 world championships in Grande Prairie, Alta. which marks a remarkable 18 years between appearances.

On the men’s side, the two-time defending champions (and Ueno’s Karuizawa clubmates) skipped by Riku Yanagisawa lost the final by a wide 8-3 margin to veteran Shinya Abe of Tokoro.

Abe, fourth thrower Tetsuro Shimizu, Haruto Ouchi and Sota Tsuruga scored two points in the second end and added a massive steal of three in the fourth for a 5-1 lead. 

The Consadole squad added another steal in the fifth end, and Yanagisawa ended up conceding after nine ends of play.

Kitami’s Takumi Maeda won the men’s bronze.

Abe’s team coach is Makoto Tsuruga, who skipped the Japan men’s team when curling debuted—or what was thought to be the debut—at the 1998 Olympic Winter Games in Nagano, which were contested at Karuizawa.

The world women’s championship takes place Mar. 16-24 in Sydney, N.S. while the men’s championship runs from Mar. 30-Apr. 7 in Schaffhausen, Switzerland.