Yama, sans chicken, into men’s final
Satsuki Fujisawa is into the women’s final of the Japan Curling Championships.
The Olympic silver medallist and her team won the Page 1 versus 2 match 6-4 over Momoha Tabata to earn the bye to the final.
The Page 3 versus 4 game saw Ikue Kitazawa upset Fujisawa arch-rival Sayaka Yoshimura. Team Kitizawa then defeated Tabat in the semifinal by a 7-5 score, setting up Sunday’s championship final.
On the men’s side, Hayato Sato defeated Riku Yanagisawa in the Page 1 versus 2 matchup, then awaited news of his opponent.
It proved to be Yanagisawa, who took out Yasumasu Tanida 10-7 in the semifinal, after Tanida had beaten Kohsuke Hirata in the Page 3 versus 4 game.
Team Yanangisawa, which has the popular Tsuyoshi “Yama” Yamaguchi at third stone, was pumped to make the final.