Japan beat United States by 9-6 in Friday evening’s men’s bronze medal game.
Japan took the early lead, following up a hit for two in the first end, with a steal of two in the second end, when the United States missed a double take-out and an umpire’s measure gave them a second point for an early 4-0 lead.
United States then responded, hitting for two in the third end, and then stealing a single in the fourth, when the umpire’s measure came into play again, to reduce Japan’s lead to 4-3.
In the fifth end, another double take out for two gave Japan a 6-3 lead as the teams went into the mid-game break.
Despite their efforts, the Americans trailed by 6-9 as the teams played the tenth end. Japan made a hit to run them out of stones for their 9-6 win.
Afterwards, Japan skip Yanagisawa Riku said, “It’s all very good and I’m glad to win this medal. It’s been a good competition for us. We had a very good start in that game and took it from there.”
Japan’s bronze medal team: Riku Yanagisawa (skip), Yamaguchi Tsuyoshi (third), Yamamoto Takeru (second), Koizumi Satoshi (lead), supported by alternate Usui Shingo.
In the men’s B-Division semi-finals, China beat Mexico by 7-1 while Philippines were 9-5 winners over Hong Kong. This means that China and Philippines will face each other in the B-Division final, to determine which of them will earn the one promotion slot to next year’s A-Division.
Engage with the World Curling Federation during the Pan Continental Curling Championships 2023 on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and Weibo and by searching the hashtags #curling and #PCCC
