New squad barnstorming Canada
Japan’s Riku Yanagisawa is in tough going at the Pan Continental Championships, sitting at 0-2 and with major tests against Canada and United States on Wednesday.
The squad are almost into the third month of a wild Canadian curling tour that saw them leave home on Aug. 28. They aren’t heading home until early December.
The Yanagisawa foursome includes third Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi (a favourite here at The Curling News), second Takeru Yamamoto and Satohi Koizumi at lead. They were recently joined by alternate Yasumasa Tanida. Their coach is Canada’s Bob Ursel.
“It been a blast,” said Ursel. “They started at the end of August in Saskatchewan, and I’ve been touring with them ever since. It’s a new team for me, so it’s allowed me some good bonding time with them.
“We’ve called Kelowna (B.C.) home. Their expenses are astronomical, so I drove my truck out to Edmonton, then Okotoks, and Banff. I’ve got the Rockies in my backyard, and I’m still in awe of them, so I wanted to show them the sights.
“You can’t get much longer than this—11 events, 14 weeks.”
The squad captured the Japanese men’s title last May. While Yamaguchi is the veteran with Olympic experience, his new team has some fresh faces.
“It’s a cool dynamic,” said Ursel. “Yama is 37; the youngest just turned 16 in August. And the skip is only 20.”
During their lengthy tour, Team Yanagisawa has jumped from 98th to 34th position in the men’s world team rankings.
“They’ve been holding their own in Canada,” said Ursel. “The goal is to get into the Slam’s Tier 2 for next year.
“The team dynamics are honestly remarkable. They’re good to each other; good with the wins, good with the losses.”