2021 Japanese Olympic Curling Trials

rdf:langString 2021 Japanese Olympic Curling Trials

rdf:langString Best-of-five

rdf:langString Ryoji Onodera

rdf:langString The 2021 Japanese Olympic Curling Trials were held from September 10 to 12 at the in Wakkanai, Japan. The winning Satsuki Fujisawa team earned the right to represent Japan at the Olympic Qualification Event where they finished in second place, qualifying for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China. There was only a women's event, as the Yuta Matsumura rink had already been chosen to represent Japan in the men's event. The event was held in a best-of-five series between the 2020 and 2021 Japanese champion rinks, Satsuki Fujisawa (Loco Solare) and Sayaka Yoshimura (Hokkaido Bank). Fujisawa could have secured her spot as the Olympic team by winning the 2021 championship, but fell short to Yoshimura 7–6 in the final. Team Yoshimura went on to represent Japan at the 2021 World Women's Curling Championship, where they finished with a disappointing 5–8 record. Prior to the playdown, both teams competed in one tour event, the 2021 Hokkaido Bank Curling Classic. There, Team Fujisawa qualified for the final and Team Yoshimura missed the playoffs. Team Fujisawa was also favored to win by the World Curling Federation's World Team Ranking System, as they ranked in fourth while Yoshimura ranked twelfth. All games were broadcast on NHK.