Kohsuke Hirata (Kitami, JPN) lost
6-2 to
Riku Yanagisawa (Karuizawa, JPN) in the Final of the ZEH-NOH Japan Curling Championship, held January 28 - February 5, 2023 in Kitami, Japan. To advance to the championship game, Hirata won
7-1 over
Shinya Abe (Sapporo, JPN) in the semifinals of the 2023 ZEH-NOH Japan Curling Championship in Kitami, Japan;
Hirata finished 7-1 in the 9-team qualifying round. . In their opening game, Hirata defeated
Japan's Kotaro Noguchi 11-2, then won
13-3 against
Hiroki Yoshioka (Okayama, JPN) and
7-4 against
Takanori Ichimura (Nagano, JPN). Hirata went on to lose
9-4 against
Yusuke Morozumi (Karuizawa, JPN). Hirata responded with a
8-4 win over
Ryo Ogihara (Tokyo, JPN). Hirata won
7-4 against
Hayato Sato (Sapporo, JPN), then won
6-5 against
Abe and
7-5 against
Yanagisawa in their final qualifying round match.
With their runner-up finish at the ZEH-NOH Japan Curling Championship, Hirata take home
19.250 world rankings points. For week 27 of the event schedule, Hirata did not improve upon their best events, remaining at th place on the
World Ranking Standings with
total points. Hirata ranks th overall on the
Year-to-Date rankings with
points earned so far this season.
