CurlingZone: Yanagisawa Wins Karuizawa International

Japan's Riku Yanagisawa stole the 5-4 win over club rivals Yusuke Morozumi in Sunday's Final.

Yanagisawa, with Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi at third, Takeru Yamamoto at second and Satoshi Koizumi at lead, opened the scoring with a steal in the first end.

Morozumi, his team supported by Yuta Matsumura at third, Ryotaro Shukuya at second and brother Kosuke Morozumi at lead, scored a single in the second end, then stole a point in the third end.

After a blank end, Yanagisawa was held to a single point, and then Morozumi took two in the sixth end to lead 4-2. Yanagisawa scored two back in the seventh, then stole one in the eighth end when Morozumi was wide on a short angle-chip for the win.

For Yanagisawa, the win was their third of the season, winning in Vernon, BC at the Prestige Classic in September, then following up with a win at the King Cash Spiel in Abbotsford, BC.

Morozumi and Yanagisawa last met in the final of the 50th Mile Zero Cash spiel held in Dawson Creek, BC, in November, with Morozumi winning that one 4-3.

The rubber match expected to come during the Japan Championships later this season.

Yanagisawa won 9-2 in their opening game on against Chang-Min Kim of Gyeongbuk, South Korea, then won 5-2 over Sapporo's Hayato Sato to start Friday with a 2-0 record.

On Saturday morning, Yanagisawa lost a tight match to Kohsuke Hirata of Kitami but had a strong enough shoot-out to advance to the playoffs. In the semifinals, Yanagisawa faced off against 2018 Olympic Gold medalist John Shuster of the United States, winning 10-3.

Related:
Prestige FINAL: Yanagisawa vs. Hirata

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