The 2022 Japan Curling Championships (branded as the 39th Zen-Noh Japan Curling Championships) were held from May 22 to 29 at the Tokoro Curling Club in Tokoro, Kitami, Hokkaido, Japan. Both the men's and women's events were played in a round robin format which qualified four teams for a page playoff.
Because of the 2022 Winter Olympics, a World Championship Trial was held in December 2021 between three teams on the men's and women's sides to determine Japan's representatives for the 2022 World Men's Curling Championship and 2022 World Women's Curling Championship. Due to this, the Japan Curling Championships were pushed back later into the year. Instead of the winners qualifying for the upcoming World Championships like usual, the winners of the 2022 Japan Curling Championships qualified as the Japanese representatives for the new Pan Continental Curling Championships.
Summary On the men's side, SC Karuizawa Club won their first national championship since the team disbanded at the following the 2017–18 season. The new team, skipped by Riku Yanagisawa, went a perfect 8–0 through the round robin portion of the event before losing the 1 vs. 2 page playoff to Sapporo International University, skipped by Hayato Sato. SC Karuizawa Club then defeated Consadole (Yasumasa Tanida) in the semifinal before winning 11–7 in the gold medal game over the Sato rink. Before they disbanded, the original SC Karuizawa Club rink of Yusuke Morozumi, Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi, Tetsuro Shimizu and Kosuke Morozumi won five straight national championships from 2013 to 2018. Now, Yamaguchi is the only player that remains on the team. SC Karuizawa Club is rounded out by second Takeru Yamamoto and lead Satoshi Koizumi. With the win, the team will represent Japan at the Pan Continental Curling Championships in November 2022, their first-time representing Japan at an international event since the 2018 Winter Olympics.
In the women's event, Team Loco Solare, with Satsuki Fujisawa, Chinami Yoshida, Yumi Suzuki, Yurika Yoshida and Kotomi Ishizaki won their third national championship since joining together for the 2015–16 season. Team Fujisawa finished top of the table after the round robin with a 7–1 record and then defeated Hokkaido Bank (Momoha Tabata) 6–4 in the 1 vs. 2 game. In the final, they faced Chubu Electric Power and Team Ikue Kitazawa, who represented Japan at the 2022 World Women's Curling Championship. Loco Solare played a steady game all the way through, never allowing Chubu Electric to score more than a single point in any end. Ultimately, they came out with the 7–3 victory and the title as national champions. Fujisawa formerly played for the Chubu Electric rink until joining Loco Solare in 2015. The team won their first national championship in 2016 and later again in 2020. With the win, Team Fujisawa become the first women's team to win two national titles in the past five years, with Fujikyu, Chubu Electric Power and Hokkaido Bank Fortius winning in 2018, 2019 and 2021 respectively.
Medalists Men SC Karuizawa ClubRiku YanagisawaTsuyoshi YamaguchiTakeru YamamotoSatoshi KoizumiHayato SatoGo AokiKouki OgiwaraKazushi NinoKei Kamada ConsadoleYasumasa TanidaTetsuro ShimizuKosuke AitaShinya AbeWomen Loco SolareSatsuki FujisawaChinami YoshidaYumi SuzukiYurika YoshidaKotomi Ishizaki Chubu Electric PowerIkue KitazawaSeina NakajimaMinori SuzukiHasumi IshigookaChiaki Matsumura Hokkaido BankMomoha TabataMiku NihiraMikoto NakajimaAyami Ito
Men
Qualification The following teams qualified to participate in the 2022 Japan Curling Championship:
Qualification method Berths Qualifying team(s) 2021 Champion 1 Consadole 2021 Runner-Up 1 Tokoro Junior Hokkaido Region 1 Sapporo International University Tōhoku Region 1 Team Ishimura Kanto Region 1 Team Tokyo Central Region 1 SC Karuizawa Club West Japan Region 1 Okayama CA Wild Card 1 1 Kitami Association Wild Card 2 1 Nagano Prefecture CA
Teams The teams are listed as follows: Team Skip Third Second Lead Alternate Locale Consadole Yasumasa Tanida Tetsuro Shimizu Kosuke Aita Shinya Abe Kitami Kitami Association Kohsuke Hirata Shingo Usui Ryota Meguro Yoshiya Miura Shunta Kobayashi Kitami Nagano Prefecture CA Yoshiro Shimizu (Fourth) Rui Sato Genya Nishizawa Minato Hayamizu (Skip) Kai Shu Nagano Okayama CA Hiroki Yoshioka Hiromitsu Fujinaka Yusuke Nonomura Makoto Takahashi Atushi Kamigakiuchi Okayama Sapporo International University Hayato Sato Go Aoki Kouki Ogiwara Kazushi Nino Kei Kamada Sapporo SC Karuizawa Club Riku Yanagisawa Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi Takeru Yamamoto Satoshi Koizumi Karuizawa Team Ishimura Juon Ishimura Yuto Nakagawa Youn Ishimura Kuya Kawamura Genta Kaimori Aomori Team Tokyo Junpei Kanda Hiromu Otani Kizuki Ryokawa Shotara Hashimoto Ken Kanai Tokyo Tokoro Junior Takumi Maeda Uryu Kamikawa Hiroki Maeda Asei Nakahara Taa Nakahara Kitami
Round robin standings Final Round Robin Standings KeyTeams to Playoffs TeamSkip SC Karuizawa Club Riku Yanagisawa 8 0 – 62 29 35 20 6 13 49.49 Sapporo International University Hayato Sato 7 1 – 62 27 34 23 7 13 48.08 Consadole Yasumasa Tanida 6 2 – 65 37 35 26 7 8 24.35 Kitami Association Kohsuke Hirata 4 4 1–0 53 48 33 30 3 9 31.33 Tokoro Junior Takumi Maeda 4 4 0–1 52 41 33 27 6 13 40.19 Team Ishimura Juon Ishimura 3 5 – 41 53 26 35 6 5 36.91 Team Tokyo Junpei Kanda 2 6 – 43 55 26 35 4 3 45.10 Okayama CA Hiroki Yoshioka 1 7 1–0 26 75 21 34 2 4 69.63 Nagano Prefecture CA Minato Hayamizu 1 7 0–1 30 69 23 36 1 4 46.40
Round robin results
All draws are listed in Japan Standard Time (UTC+09:00).
Draw 2 Sunday, May 22, 13:30
Draw 4 Monday, May 23, 9:00
Draw 6 Monday, May 23, 18:00
Draw 8 Tuesday, May 24, 13:30
Draw 10 Wednesday, May 25, 9:00
Draw 12 Wednesday, May 25, 18:00
Draw 14 Thursday, May 26, 13:30
Draw 16 Friday, May 27, 9:00
Draw 18 Friday, May 27, 18:00
Playoffs
1 vs. 2 Saturday, May 28, 9:00
3 vs. 4 Saturday, May 28, 9:00
Semifinal Saturday, May 28, 15:00
Final Sunday, May 29, 9:00
Final standings PlaceTeamSkip SC Karuizawa Club Riku Yanagisawa Sapporo International University Hayato Sato Consadole Yasumasa Tanida4 Kitami Association Kohsuke Hirata5 Tokoro Junior Takumi Maeda6 Team Ishimura Juon Ishimura7 Team Tokyo Junpei Kanda8 Okayama CA Hiroki Yoshioka9 Nagano Prefecture CA Minato Hayamizu
Women
Qualification The following teams qualified to participate in the 2022 Japan Curling Championship:
Qualification method Berths Qualifying team(s) 2021 Champion 1 Fortius 2021 Runner-Up 1 Loco Solare Hokkaido Region 1 Hokkaido Bank Tōhoku Region 1 Philosique Aomori Kanto Region 1 Fujikyu Central Region 1 SC Karuizawa Club West Japan Region 1 Team Hiroshima 2021 World Trials Champion 1 Chubu Electric Power Wild Card 1 Sapporo Association
Teams The teams are listed as follows: Team Skip Third Second Lead Alternate Locale Chubu Electric Power Ikue Kitazawa Seina Nakajima Minori Suzuki Hasumi Ishigooka Chiaki Matsumura Nagano Fortius Sayaka Yoshimura Kaho Onodera Anna Ohmiya Yumie Funayama Mina Kobayashi Sapporo Fujikyu Yuna Kotani Arisa Kotani Mao Ishigaki Michiko Tomabechi Tori Koana Yamanashi Hokkaido Bank Momoha Tabata Miku Nihira Mikoto Nakajima Ayami Ito Sapporo Loco Solare Satsuki Fujisawa Chinami Yoshida Yumi Suzuki Yurika Yoshida Kotomi Ishizaki Kitami Philosique Aomori Misaki Tanaka (Fourth) Miori Nakamura (Skip) Haruka Kihara Emiko Koyama Hiyori Ichinohe Aomori Sapporo Association Kana Ogawa Momo Kaneta Suzune Yasui Noa Kyoto Natsuko Ishiyama Sapporo SC Karuizawa Club Asuka Kanai Ami Enami Junko Nishimuro Mone Ryokawa Nagano Team Hiroshima Yuki Shibuto Riho Zaikan Ikumi Masuki Akari Iwatani Sachie Ishihara Hiroshima
Round robin standings Final Round Robin Standings KeyTeams to Playoffs TeamSkip Loco Solare Satsuki Fujisawa 7 1 – 60 37 41 26 6 15 26.85 Hokkaido Bank Momoha Tabata 6 2 1–0 63 36 33 24 4 11 48.20 Chubu Electric Power Ikue Kitazawa 6 2 0–1 65 37 35 26 3 13 46.77 Fortius Sayaka Yoshimura 4 4 1–1 65 44 37 32 2 14 31.14 Philosique Aomori Miori Nakamura 4 4 1–1 48 54 30 38 3 6 36.73 SC Karuizawa Club Asuka Kanai 4 4 1–1 43 46 31 34 3 10 42.89 Sapporo Association Kana Ogawa 3 5 – 48 54 30 29 4 8 50.36 Fujikyu Yuna Kotani 2 6 – 44 56 29 34 2 7 46.76 Team Hiroshima Yuki Shibuto 0 8 – 18 90 16 39 1 3 115.04
Round robin results
All draws are listed in Japan Standard Time (UTC+09:00).
Draw 1 Sunday, May 22, 9:00
Draw 3 Sunday, May 22, 18:00
Draw 5 Monday, May 23, 13:30
Draw 7 Tuesday, May 24, 9:00
Draw 9 Tuesday, May 24, 18:00
Draw 11 Wednesday, May 25, 13:30
Draw 13 Thursday, May 26, 9:00
Draw 15 Thursday, May 26, 18:00
Draw 17 Friday, May 27, 13:30
Playoffs
1 vs. 2 Saturday, May 28, 9:00
3 vs. 4 Saturday, May 28, 9:00
Semifinal Saturday, May 28, 15:00
Final Sunday, May 29, 16:30
Final standings PlaceTeamSkip Loco Solare Satsuki Fujisawa Chubu Electric Power Ikue Kitazawa Hokkaido Bank Momoha Tabata4 Fortius Sayaka Yoshimura5 Philosique Aomori Miori Nakamura6 SC Karuizawa Club Asuka Kanai7 Sapporo Association Kana Ogawa8 Fujikyu Yuna Kotani9 Team Hiroshima Yuki Shibuto
References
External links Official Website Streaming